Victor Solanoy's
3 weeks to go until I ride my bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles! - It's not to late to donate!Thanks for supporting me!
This is my first AIDS/Lifecycle ride and I'm really excited to be a part of such an incredible event. If you're not aware, AIDS/Lifecycle 7 is an endurance ride taking me 545-miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles in the name of stopping the spread and finding a cure for AIDS. This will take place between June 1 through June 7. Why I want to take part... A long time ago, I was going to college at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo when the AIDS Quilt was circulating throughout the nation. I went and was simply overwhelmed by the number of people that each patch of the quilt represented in the 15 years or so that HIV and AIDS had been identified. What was even more overwhelming was the fact that the quilt that visited the Cal Poly campus was only a small portion of the total quilt. Each part of the total quilt represented a family member, a friend, a parter, husband, wife, brother, sister, grandparent, priests, doctors... more importantly, a loved one. It seemed too big of an issue for me to feel that I could take part. I felt helpless -- I felt that I was only one person and couldn't possibly make a difference. And as with most people who visited that day, we learned a little... but did nothing. Today I know I couldn't have been more wrong. A few years later, still living in San Luis Obispo. In 1994, I was moving between apartments when I caught an incredible sight. Bikes as far as I could see. What was more incredible was as I got closer to my new apartment, the bikes were all piling into a strip mall across the street. After dropping dropping my stuff off, I headed to the Laguna Village Shopping Center and asked a few people what was going on. They explained to me that they were all taking part in the California AIDSRide. It had me thinking that this was something that I could take part of, and still help the cause. Then I graduated from college, worked, had a family... and suddenly the AIDSRide dropped from my radar. Now the kids are mostly grown-up and have had time to peak my head-up to find things where I could make a difference. That's when my wife asked me if I was still interested in doing AIDS/Lifecycle 7... 11 years after first encountering throngs of cyclists in San Luis Obispo, I registered. Now my family is supporting me in my quest to fulfill something I've always wanted to do... but now, it's different... Now the importance of events like the AIDS/Lifecycle has a new meaning for me -- if a cure isn't found, loved ones will continue to suffer the wrath of this terrible disease. Worse is the fate of future generations who will have to deal with the human suffering that this pandemic is causing. This is something that no generation should have to endure. That's not a future I would want for anyone... more importantly... it's not a future that anyone would have to endure if a cure can be found. How you can help... Remember when I mentioned that I felt overwhelmed and helpless when I saw the AIDS Quilt, so I did nothing? What I never thought about was it took someone to make an individual quilt, it took more people to stitch each patch to a larger quilt, then more people to coordinate how people saw the quilt, not to mention a whole cast of others working behind the scenes. Well, it took someone to do each step along the way. With the AIDS/Lifecycle ride, that someone is now me, and the thousands of others who are raising money and riding, or volunteering to make this event happen. Where you come in is that you are someone who can make a difference by making a donation to my participation to help the San Francisco AIDS Foundation continue their work to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS through education and awareness programs, improve the quality of life for those affected by HIV and AIDS, as well as help find a cure for the disease by continuing activism efforts to continue to increase overall awareness and knowledge of the disease. I was doing some research and came across the following worldwide numbers for 2007 --
This disease simply needs to be stopped. You can help by making a tax deductible contribution by May 15. My goal is to raise $2500 benefiting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
A little bit on myself...
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Visit Victor's blog at:
That's me somewhere between San Jose and Morgan Hill
Victor's Goal: $2,500.00
Current Total: $2,020.00 |
Victor's LinksSan Francisco AIDS Foundation
Experience AIDS/LifeCycle 2007
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866.245.3424 • 415.581.7077 • 323.993.7483 • info@aidslifecycle.org • Privacy policy
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