300 Miles 4 days, Hope for the Future

I do hate to spam my friends but it is getting to the deadline for contributions to the ACTIII AIDS/HIV benefit ride & I still am quite a ways from attaining my minimum pledges. I have $225 dollars out of $1100 minimum. That leaves quite a bit to do. I do want to support this cause & I also want to have the experience of the ride. All donations will go to Aids Network of Southwestern Wisconsin whether I get the minimum or not but if I don’t get the minimum I can’t do the ride.

Even if you can donate a little bit it all can add up. Don’t think that you need to make a huge pledge to make a difference. Like anything else, every part makes up the sum of the whole. Now if you do have $875 dollars that you can donate to this more than worthy, tax deductible cause that will be great.

This ride is designed to be very lean administratively. Last year 88% of the money donated went to AIDS Network. That is a pretty good rate compared to many of the other things like this. Nearly ninety percent of your money will be going to support awareness, prevention, education, & support in the form of case management to those who have already fallen victim.

I would be surprised if you didn’t know at least one person who has contracted this disease. It has taken it’s toll on every segment of our population & is still spreading. I’m sure that you have heard that right now the largest area of the world that the disease is hitting is Africa. There are still plenty of people here in world wide falling victim to this plague.

The following is taken from CDC's webpage:

HIV/AIDS Diagnoses At the end of 2003, an estimated 1,039,000 to 1,185,000 persons in the United States were living with HIV/AIDS [1]. In 2003, 32,048 cases of HIV/AIDS were reported from the 33 areas (32 states and the US Virgin Islands) with long-term, confidential name-based HIV reporting [2]. When all 50 states are considered, CDC estimates that approximately 40,000 persons become infected with HIV each year.

In Wisconsin as of 2003 there were 4,136 total cases of AIDS/HIV since it was first diagnosed. I know five people myself who I know have fallen to this. My Wife’s cousin surprised her rural Wisconsin family when she told them she had it a few years ago. She has now gone on to the next life. Others are former classmates & also friends. All of these people are within that number. In Wisconsin statistics from 2003 (this is when all the statistics I have found are) there were 184 new cases of AIDS/HIV; 141 were male & 43 women. Fortunately, for 2003 in Wisconsin no children fell victim. That isn’t the case everywhere though statistics in your area will undoubtedly be different. This needs to be stopped. It isn’t going to be stopped without support. Here in Southwestern Wisconsin, that support comes through AIDS Network.

AIDS Network is a nonprofit organization that services thirteen Southwestern Wisconsin counties. They use money generated by this ride & other donations to support their efforts in helping those who have fallen victim, spreading education of awareness & prevention.

I copied this from www.actride.org I think it says quite a bit......

"Because riders take on such a large commitment (raising $1,100,
training, and then riding over 300 miles in four days), the event
generates a great deal of public awareness. As the ride ventures
through small cities and towns throughout southwest and south central
Wisconsin, riders will help educate the community, put a human face on
this disease, spread the word that AIDS has no barriers."

When you decide to make the donation you can go to the link below &
put in my name, Toni Coles & rider number 66.

http://www.actride.org/pledge.htm

Thank you for your time. Thank you for your consideration.

Toni