I feel I’m in a unique position as a AIDS/LifeCycle rider and donor.  I am not personally afflicted with HIV/AIDS, nor is any close friend or family member that I am aware of.  My nearest acquaintance I have with this disease is a coworker who himself rode LifeCycle a few years back.  As a result, I’m short on personal stories about the havoc HIV/AIDS can wreak on human existence.

The Sacramento Bicycle Kitchen was recently gracious enough to host a LifeCycle orientation meeting for Sacramento-area riders.   There, I got to meet about a dozen new people, many of whom had their own gutwrenching stories to tell about living with HIV/AIDS, watching a family member suffer, or comforting a friend in their last days.  I also heard about the programs my riding will help fund, from San Francisco AIDS Foundation staff and even some that had benefited from their programs.  The list is impressive (and this is by no means complete): rental assistance that helps maintain stable housing for AIDS sufferers, HIV testing and screening, financial counseling, counseling to navigate social insurance and benefits opportunities, needle exchange programs to limit HIV and Hepatitis C infection, and even drug treatment counseling to break the links between drug use and HIV-risk behaviors.

Over one third of SFAF’s total budget comes from AIDS/LifeCycle, so my $3,000 fundraising pledge is crucial to these programs and to everyone who relies on them.  It’ll keep people off of the street.  It’ll keep people fed.  It’ll help people avoid HIV infection.  It’ll let those that are infected live meaningful lives.  With polio’s eradication from the modern world, we have proven that coordinated action by dedicated people can eradicate a disease that causes so much suffering for so many.

I intend to help.  You can help, too, by donating here.