Telluride AIDS Benefit: 2019 A Record Year!

29 Jun Telluride AIDS Benefit: 2019 A Record Year!

The Telluride AIDS Benefit (TAB) is pleased to announce the fact 2019 was a RECORD YEAR of fundraising . Over $170K is to be distributed to beneficiary organizations in Colorado, Utah, and Africa.

TAB enters its 27th year with renewed excitement and dedication to its mission to FIGHT, FUND, EDUCATE. Join the TAB family at the AIDS Walk in Denver this summer, donate online or visit www.aidsbenefit.org for more information on Fashion Week 2020 and events throughout the year.

To date, TAB has distributed over $2.7 million dollars to organizations in the local and global fight against HIV and AIDS. Beneficiary organizations can then utilize funds in ways they deem necessary, often deploying the monies to fill the many gaps that exist for specific client needs. Examples include assistance with financial, housing, transportation, and nutrition needs, such as bus fare to/from doctor’s appointments, short-term housing solutions, and grocery cards. Filling in these gaps is key to client health, long-term success of medication and maintaining positive lifestyles for people living with HIV and AIDS.

“TAB funding has ensured that the clinic and orphanages have been able to keep our doors open,” Ed Hendrickson, Exec. Dir,  Manzini Youth Care, Swaziland, Africa.

“The unrestricted money we receive from TAB helps our organization operate smoothly, enables us to be innovative and helps us weather crisis without losing momentum,” Misty Aaberg, Director, Western Colorado AIDS Project, Grand Junction, Colorado.

The Telluride AIDS Benefit understands that testing is an indispensable tool in fighting the HIV epidemic. An individual newly infected is at the highest risk of transmitting the virus. If a person tests often and catches a positive HIV infection in its early stages, he or she may well be less likely to transmit the virus. Testing positive for HIV instantly creates a link to appropriate care, and correct medications can decrease viral load to an “undetectable” level, which is considered untransmittable. Finally, easy access to HIV testing serves to decrease stigma around both the virus and testing.

In 2019, TAB expanded HIV testing by supporting free, rapid testing at Uncompahgre Medical Center in Norwood, Moab Free Clinic, Red Ribbon Project in Vail, and locally at the Telluride Medical Center. The Telluride AIDS Benefit understands how education, prevention and decreasing stigma are essential to impacting change in the HIV epidemic and is dedicated to our local, regional,. and global partners in this effort.

“That it’s over. It’s only over for some people,” Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, deputy commissioner for the Division of Disease Control/NYC when asked what he thought was the greatest misconception about H.I.V. today (source: New York Times).