Bunky Bill Miller's
I'm Helping to End AIDS. Please Help Me Help Others.Hi Friends, For the first time in my life, I'm participating in the AIDS/LifeCycle fundraiser from June 1-7 to make a BIG difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. I'm taking 5 of my 10 vacation days from work to volunteer as a "Roadie" for this 7-day, 545-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. As a Roadie, instead of riding a bike for 7 days, I'll be supporting the riders all along the route. Every day, starting at 4am, I'll be loading and unloading hundreds of the bikers' tents & luggage from a huge truck. Thank goodness everyone has a 70 pound bag weight limit! Wow! Am I gonna get a good workout! They're also going to teach me to drive a 24 foot truck. (They better have insurance!) As most of you know, I'm not big on camping or getting up early. But I keep reminding myself, it's not about me. Everybody involved in this life-changing experience is expected to raise $2500. The money raised will help thousands of people with HIV and AIDS who struggle physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially with this disease. Millions of people worldwide are struggling with this deadly disease every day and millions more live in fear of it every day. There are over 500 Roadies and 2500 Riders! This thing is massive and it costs the AIDS/LifeCycle organization around $500 per person to shelter and feed us for the week on the road. That's about 1.5 Million dollars just to run this event! I have to buy a sleeping bag, camping gear, steel toed boots, a plane ticket to SF, and rent a hotel room in SF the night before the event. Please do me a big favor... each day during the first week of June, please stop for 60 seconds, close your eyes, and send me positive, warm, loving thoughts. This event will be physically and emotionally challenging and exhausting for me. But knowing that you are cheering me on, supporting me, and thinking of me will give me strength to persevere! Also, it would mean a lot to me if you would click below right now to Send a Message of Support to me! I vow to keep fighting until the AIDS virus is destroyed. Whether your HIV/AIDS status is Positive or Negative, we're all in this together. Thank you for your love and support. Big hug. Love, Bunky
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Bunky Bill's latest blog entry:
Saturday, Jun 7, 2008 
What?! This is NOT a 7-day Cruise? Uh oh...
Bunky Bill's Goal: $2,500.00
Current Total: $2,779.00 |
It's about helping to end AIDS. My friends in the Great Outdoors club and I formed a team (#104) for this fundraiser called Team Great Outdoors. There's a link to our team homepage below in the links section.
Bill
Bunky Bill's LinksL.A. Gay & Lesbian Center
Team Great Outdoors Members are men and women ranging in age from the early 20s to people in their 50s. There are Great Outdoors chapters throughout California: Los Angeles, Orange County/Long Beach, Santa Barbara/Ventura, Palm Springs, & San Diego.
Experience AIDS/LifeCycle 2007
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Bunky Bill's BlogSaturday, June 7, 20089:30 PMI did it!First, thank you to every one of the 44 wonderfully generouse friends who donated and helped me surpass my goal of $2500. Thanks to you, I raised $2529!!!!! It is Saturday night. I just got home from Closing Ceremonies. I'm tired; no, I'm exhausted, my back aches, the blister on my toe is throbbing, I have a sunburn, my fingernails haven't been this dirty since I was 12, and I feel GREAT! I know, I must be dilerious. LOL I can't thank everyone enough for supporting my efforts in this. I've never done anything like this before in my life. I honestly didn't know if I could make it all week without breaking down, but I did! And I am proud of myself for completing my first AIDS/LifeCycle. I proved to myself that I could do this; I could give up the things I love for strangers... for other human beings who are suffering and need help; who need OUR help. So I am doing the AIDS/LifeCycle again next year. But not as a Roadie; as a Rider. The Riders say that being a Roadie is harder than being a Rider. Do I have a bike? No. So that will be my Christmas gift to myself this year. And I'm going to start training in January and will train on weekend bike trips from January until June. I can do it. I WILL do it. I HAVE to do it. I don't know why, but I know I have to do it. I don't know if my body can handle riding 545 miles; riding a bike for 7 consecutive days. Will my knees give out? Will my feet blister? Will I wreck my bike and injure myself? I don't know. I'll find out. Will you join me and 2500 others next year in making a difference? This is the experience of a lifetime. The ALC is an international event. Riders came from all over; Belgium, Paris, the Virgin Islands, the UK, and from all over North America. I have to shower and go to bed now. I can't wait to take a real shower. I can't wait to sleep on a mattress. I'm so thankful I can go to bed without first having to set up my tent. I will write more later, but I just had to say thank you to everyone who supported me. You made it all worthwhile. Remember, black, white; straight, gay; male, female; positive, negative makes no difference. AIDS does not discriminate. We're all in this together. And together we can end AIDS. Thank you for caring. Big hug, Bunky Bill Permalink | Share this posting : Care2 News | del.icio.us | digg | NewsVine | Reddit | YahooMyWeb |
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