Event raised $2,500 to fight AIDS in Africa

Jim Hagarty
Editor
Three friends, home for the summer, might plan for lots of beach time.

But for three young women from Mitchell and area, something a bit more meaningful was in their sights.

Two weeks ago, 80 people attended an evening event at Central United Church in Stratford, opening their wallets to contribute $2,500 to the Stephen Lewis Foundation to help fight HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The three organizers – Katie DeBlock, Jayne Edighoffer and Danielle DeBlock – have heard Stephen Lewis speak and have been impressed with his work. They had never put together a fundraiser before and weren’t sure what to expect, but the turnout exceeded the number they thought they might see at the dinner and silent auction.

“We’ve always been really interested in the Stephen Lewis Foundatino,” said Katie DeBlock last week. “It’s an organization that’s doing amazing work.”

The focus of the event was young women infected by the disease and it was mostly women who attended. But the organizers were happy to see some men and a whole range of ages.

“It’s an issue that’s pertinent to everyone,” said DeBlock. “We were happy to see lots of people of different sexes and ages. It takes everyone to fight this.”

DeBlock and her friends find the statistics surrounding the disease to be staggering.

“Every day over 6,800 people become infected with HIV, and over 5,700 people die from AIDS,” DeBlock recently wrote in a press release. “In 2007 alone 2.1 million adults and children died of AIDS. Seventy-six per cent (1.6 million) of these people lived in sub Saharan Africa.”

DeBlock wrote that, while the impact of the disease may not be as visible in our own part of the world, the pandemic is difficult to ignore.

“Organizations like the Stephen Lewis Foundation have responded to the devastation the HIV/AIDS pandemic causes,” wrote DeBlock.” The foundation provides funding to ease the pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa at the grassroots level. By giving needed financial support to projects that assist orphans, provide medical care to women, and help associations of people living with HIV/AIDS, the Stephen Lewis Foundation works tirelessly to bring help, solace, and hope to people affected by the pandemic.”

Organizers of the Stratford event called the evening, “The Loud Silence: HIV/AIDS and Young Women Around the Globe.” It involved a buffet of multicultural foods followed by a presentation of music, film, and stories put together by local young women aiming to give voice to the struggles of other young women living in Africa with HIV/AIDS.

In a few weeks, the event organizers will go their separate ways – Katie to York University, Jayne to Brock University and Danielle to the University of Western Ontario – but their interest in doing a second fundraiser is high and if circumstances permit, another one could be held next year.