Thank you for visiting my fundraising page! Please support me by making a donation here to AIDS Walk San Francisco.

sf.aidswalk.net/raffintom

I am raising funds for the National AIDS Memorial team this year at AIDS Walk San Francisco which will be on Sunday, July 17, 2022. AIDS Walk SF is a very important fund raising event for the 10-acre National AIDS Memorial in Golden Gate Park which is our nation's only federally-designated memorial dedicated to lives touched by AIDS.

In 2020 the AIDS Memorial Quilt which we brought back from Atlanta became part of the National AIDS Memorial. The Quilt was started in San Francisco in 1987, and the idea of the Grove began to take shape in Golden Gate Park in 1989. The Quilt has 50,000 3 foot x 6 foot panels, is magnificent, and is the largest folk art entity in the world. It is now digitized and you can see the panels on our website: aidsmemorial.org Please visit.

Since the beginning of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic 36 million people have died from the disease, and currently 38 million people live with HIV/AIDS of which only 28 million are receiving therapy. Almost 50% are women. By 2018 700,000 Americans died of HIV/AIDS, and in 2019 there were 35,000 new cases of HIV in the US.

There are currently 1.1 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS and over 150,000 do not know they are infected. HIV/AIDS cases are increasing in the southern US and in rural areas. In 2018, African Americans accounted for 12% of the US population but 43% (476,000) of people living with HIV/AIDS.

I am honored to be the Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the National AIDS Memorial. The National AIDS Memorial is home to many important programs besides the Grove and the Quilt. My involvement with the Memorial is deeply rewarding. The Memorial helps to tell the story of HIV/AIDS to future generations so we will not have to repeat the same mistakes. Sadly, the COVID pandemic has revealed some of the same challenges we initially saw in the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

As a board member, the funds I raise through our AIDS Walk this year will directly benefit the National AIDS Memorial, the AIDS Memorial Quilt, the Storytelling Project (numerous impressive videos - see the website), the Pedro Zamora Scholarships (100 undergraduate scholarships which have awarded $300,000 in student support - see the website), and a strong focus on Health and Social Justice. We are developing national programs to better understand how to deal with pandemics like HIV/AIDS, COVID and future pandemics. Also, how to effectively combat health care injustice and inequality.

I am asking you to help me reach my fundraising goal of $50,000. Your support will not only benefit the National AIDS Memorial and its programs, but will also mean so much to me personally. Any amount helps! On behalf of the National AIDS Memorial and the over one million Americans living with HIV/AIDS, I thank you for your support!
If you would like to join me on the AIDS Walk please let me know.

To Donate please go to: sf.aidswalk.net/raffintom

Tom Raffin
Board Co-Chair, National AIDS Memorial