Back in March, the Ride went virtual, saying:
Our mission is to raise funds for our beneficiaries providing HIV/AIDS services and prevention efforts, and they need us now more than ever as they are helping their patients stay healthy in the face of this pandemic.
We are encouraged by the fact that our community has faced adversity before. In fact, we were founded to address and respond to a health crisis. We have met these challenges head-on and raised over $10,000,000 in the last 20 years! We have dealt with isolation, fear, grief, and the unknown by creating a community of kindness to support those most susceptible to the effects of a health crisis. We are well equipped to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in a way that raises support for the clients of our beneficiary agencies.
So, today was the first challenge day. We were supposed to video ourselves out riding or running/walking and share it. I walked 2.16 miles, yay me. I’m technologically challenged, so I’m going to have to try to share the video. Meanwhile, here’s my fundraising page.
More info about the agencies we’re raising money for and what they need:
All of the Ride's beneficiaries are facing additional challenges to service delivery and people living with HIV are now juggling additional barriers to accessing life-saving care in the wake of COVID-19. The single best thing you can do now is help us fundraise through the Virtual Ride campaign.
Additional Ways to Help Our Beneficiaries Now:
Community Action needs
- Food resources
- Volunteers to help deliver food bank items to clients living in outlying counties
Project Transitions needs supplies for Doug's House (most residents are elderly with disabling physical conditions)
- Disinfectant wipes, surgical gowns, and masks (prefer N95 but will take any medical procedure mask)
- Dish soap, butter, sour cream, sugar-free pancake syrup, and grocery store/grocery delivery gift cards
- Walkie talkies (FRS) would be helpful to communicate with residents in quarantine
Here is my fundraising page, to give money to all the agencies: p2p.onecause.com/…
Since there’s so little traffic these days, I listened to my workout playlist while I was walking. One of the songs was U2’s Elevation. Which really struck me:
I can't sing but I've got soul
The goal is elevation
That’s what the Ride & the agencies who help people living with HIV & AIDS do — they elevate the people they serve, and we riders elevate them. Anyway, I can’t post a diary without music