New York joins 17 cities around the world speaking out for children affected
by AIDS.
New research study: Surprisingly high percentage admit knowing little about
pandemic
WHAT: AIDS activists, musicians, students and families gather to mark
the end of the 24-hour global AIDS vigil and remember the
thousands of children orphaned by the pandemic.
WHEN: Friday, November 30 from 7-9 a.m.
WHERE: Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, 7 West 55th Street (between
5th - 6th Avenues)
WHO: Participants at the vigil include:
-- The Brooklyn Youth Chorus and Christian artists Shane & Shane
-- Bwalya Melu, program specialist for World Vision, who has lost
three siblings and their wives to AIDS in Zambia
-- Children, families, and college students to read the names of
AIDS orphans
WHY: Every day, an estimated 6,000 children lose a parent to AIDS. To
raise awareness about the plight of these children, World Vision
is hosting the first-ever global AIDS vigil. In a new global
research study, to be released on November 29, a surprisingly high
percentage of people surveyed admitted knowing little or nothing
about the pandemic-making awareness building an even higher
priority for combating global AIDS.
The vigil will begin in Toronto, Canada at 9 a.m. EST on Thursday,
November 29 and continue westward in 17 cities around the world,
concluding in New York City at 9 a.m. EST on Friday, November 30.
During each event, participants will read the names of some 350
children who have lost a parent to AIDS or related illnesses. As
the event moves around the globe, the cumulative number of names
read will grow until, at the final event in New York City, the
last of 6,000 names will be read, symbolizing the number of
children who will have lost a parent to AIDS and related illnesses
that day.
NOTE: B-roll and photographs illustrating the international AIDS crisis
and footage from vigil events in Chicago, San Salvador, Delhi,
Nairobi and other cities will be available.
After the vigil, participants will be building 300 AIDS caregiver
kits to send to caregivers in Africa. An assembly line will be
set up at the church for volunteers to put together these orange
plastic kits with essential supplies like cotton balls,
antibacterial soap and gloves. World Vision partners with
community leaders to train and equip caregivers who visit AIDS
patients by sending them kits like these.
For more information on World Vision's Global AIDS Attitudes
research study, contact Gardi Wilks at 708-366-8389 or Rachel
Wolff at 253-394-2214, or visit www.worldvision.org/press.
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
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