WORLD AIDS DAY AWARENESS AND EVENTS SLATED FOR DECEMBER 1
Monday, Nov 30, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, contact Patricia Minor at 877.264.2826 or patricia.minor@arkansas.gov
WORLD AIDS DAY AWARENESS AND EVENTS SLATED FOR DECEMBER 1
World AIDS Day will be commemorated on December 1 with a variety of awareness and testing events scheduled, the Arkansas Minority Health Commission’s (AMHC) HIV/AIDS Prevention Coalition has announced. The Coalition has partnered with the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) in bringing greater awareness to World AIDS Day.
“The joint effort between the AMHC and ADH is geared towards creating greater awareness of the need for all of us to know our status when it comes to this disease,” said Idonia L. Trotter, executive director of the AMHC. “In 2008, although Black Arkansans made up only 16% of the total state population, they represented more than 47% of all new HIV infections and 36% of all new AIDS cases for that year,” Trotter said.
Leading up to World AIDS Day, a testing event began on November 24 and will continue on November 25 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). Individuals can be tested for HIV/AIDS in the Donaghey Student Center, Room 201T.
On November 29, churches throughout Arkansas will host “Compassion Sunday,” where congregants will learn about HIV/AIDS. Confirmed churches that will participate in “Compassion Sunday” include:
• Second Baptist, 1709 John Barrow, Little Rock (HIV testing)
• First Baptist Church, 811 SA Jones Drive, North Little Rock
• Jubilee Christian Center at 5103 Malcomb Avenue, Pine Bluff
• First Baptist Missionary Church, 3110 Kelly Highway, Fort Smith
• The Naked Truth Baptist Church, 1665 E. County Road, Gosnell
• New Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, 619 S. Broadway, Osceola
• Hispanic Community Services Inc., 311 Huntington Street, Jonesboro
Blytheville Churches:
• First Missionary Baptist Church, 600 E. McHaney Street
• True Light Baptist Church, 1100 S. Lilly Street
• St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, 1630 West Street
• New St. Paul Baptist Baptist Church, 515 E. Sawyer Street
• New Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church, 534 Maple Street
• New Jerusalem Baptist Church, 1215 East Street
• New Bethel Baptist Church, 1255 S. 9th Street
• Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, 920 S. Lake Street
• Mt. Nebo Baptist Church, 2224 Marguerite Street
• Greater Holy Temple COGIC, 762 E. McHaney Street
• Emmanuel Baptist Church, 4315 N. County Road 535
On December 1, Arkansas State University (ASU) at Jonesboro will host World AIDS Day 2009. Beginning at 9:30 a.m., an array of guest speakers will address the topic of HIV/AIDS including Dr. Glen Jones, Dr. Susan Hanrahan; and Dr. Dexter Voisin.
Free, confidential HIV testing and counseling will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Reynolds 151 and 103. The day at ASU concludes with a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. at Heritage Plaza.
The AMHC will host a World AIDS Day press conference will take place at 12 noon on the campus of Philander Smith College. The winners of the first World AIDS Day Essay and Poster Contest will be announced and will read or display their work. The press conference will conclude with a balloon releasing ceremony to commemorate the lives of those who have succumbed to HIV/AIDS.
Future Builders Inc. will present its Fifth Annual HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness Symposium from 1 to 3:30 p.m. The symposium will be held on the campus of Philander Smith College in the Jocelyn Elders Lecture Hall, located inside the Harry R. Kendall Mission Center.
Later that day, Sheryl Lee Ralph, an award-winning actress and AIDS activist, will perform “Sometimes I Cry: The Lives, Loves, and Losses of Women Infected and Affected by HIV/AIDS” from 7 to 9 p.m. at Wildwood Park for the Arts, located at 20919 Denny Road in Little Rock. Ralph wrote the show, which was inspired by the real life stories of women infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Other awareness and testing events, locations and times are as follows:
Testing events
• House of Vision (Little Rock)
• Philander Smith College (Little Rock)
• Pulaski Tech at the Center Campus Building from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (December 1 and 2 in Little Rock)
• UALR
• University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB)
• El Morocco Club, located at 2607 West 10th Avenue in Pine Bluff, from 5:30 to 9 p.m.
• Jones Center (Room 217), located at 922 Emma in Springdale
• Alliance on Community Health (El Dorado)
Awareness/education
• L.V. Floyd Community Outreach Center (Blytheville)
Balloon release
• UAPB
• ASU
• L.V. Floyd Community Outreach Center
• Arkansas AIDS Foundation on campus of Pulaski Tech
• Center for Nonprofits at the JTL Shop, located at 614 East Emma in Springdale
World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1. The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988. World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic.
Over a million Americans are estimated to be living with HIV. Worldwide, an estimated 33 million people are living with HIV, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ website (www.hhs.gov).
For more information about World AIDS Day events and activities, contact Patricia Minor at 877.264.2826 or patricia.minor@arkansas.gov. Visit www.arminorityhealth.com to learn more about the Arkansas Minority Health Commission’s HIV/AIDS Prevention Coalition.
