Events Mark World AIDS Day

Events are planned around the Bay Area in the coming days to mark the 28th annual World AIDS Day, which commemorates the lives lost and the work that remains to be done in fighting HIV and AIDS.

At its annual Light in the Grove event 6 to 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, November 30, the National AIDS Memorial Grove will honor community leader and philanthropist Alvin Baum with it Lifetime of Commitment award.

"Al has never stopped being an active civic leader and is well known throughout San Francisco for his decades of unwavering philanthropy, activism and leadership in support of the HIV/AIDS and LGBT communities as well as civil liberties, Jewish affairs and politics," a news release from the grove said.

Baum has worked as an attorney, city planner, and psychotherapist. He's also served on the boards of numerous groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF.

Among his many honors, he was the lifetime achievement grand marshal for the 2013 San Francisco LGBT Pride parade.

Light in the Grove will also include a candlelight reflection at the Circle of Friends, and a reception with cocktails, a gourmet buffet and musical performances.

As of Monday, November 21, limited tickets were still available. For tickets, which start at $250, go to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2016-light-in-the-grove-tickets-27420954814.

Funds raised through the event support needs, including programs and maintenance at the grove, which is located in the eastern end of Golden Gate Park at the intersection of Bowling Green and Middle Drive East, across from the tennis courts. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the grove's creation.

Thursday, December 1, the grove will host its 23nd annual World AIDS Day observance from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The program begins at noon and includes an invocation by Rabbi Ted Riter.

During the observance, Paul Kawata from the National AIDS Minority Council will receive the National Leadership Recognition Award, and the national hemophilia community will be honored with the Thom Weyand Unsung Hero Award.

"The national hemophilia community (50 percent of which perished between 1980-2010 due to a tainted blood supply) is owed an enormous debt of gratitude for its (unintended) role in alerting the country to the contamination of the nation's blood supply," a grove news release said. "...The hemophilia community, faced with evidence that pharmaceutical companies and government regulators knew that treatment for their disorder was contaminated, launched a powerful and inspiring fight to right the system that failed them, and have since stood as guardians of the nation's blood supply."

AIDS activist Jeanne White-Ginder, whose late son Ryan White, a hemophiliac, raised awareness of AIDS through his struggles, will accept the award on behalf of the hemophilia community and in honor of Ryan.

Videos from the "Surviving Voices" project, showing interviews with people central to the hemophilia community's experience, will premiere Thursday.

Visit http://www.aidsmemorial.org for more information.

Inscribe in the Castro

Also Thursday, starting at about 10 a.m., students from Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy in the Castro district will lead the second annual "Inscribe" event, where local residents, business people, and visitors will use colorful sidewalk chalk (provided) to write messages and draw pictures on the sidewalks in the 400 and 500 blocks of Castro Street (between Market and 19th streets).

Inscribe is the brainchild of community activist George Kelly. Last year, the collaboration between the Castro elementary school and a group of long-term HIV survivors called Honoring Our Experience saw the names of more than 1,000 people written out along the sidewalks.

For more information, email [email protected].

HIV Cure Summit

The amfAR Institute will hold an HIV Cure Summit Thursday in Robertson Auditorium at the UCSF Mission Bay campus, 1675 Owens Street. The summit runs from 1 to 4 p.m., followed by a reception.

Organizers said the forum will include a community update on progress toward an HIV cure featuring leaders from the amfAR Institute for HIV Cure Research.

The event is free and intended for the general public. To RSVP, visit http://www.amfar.org/rsvp2016.

San Jose City Hall

At 5 p.m. Thursday in San Jose, World AIDS Day will be marked with the City Hall tower being illuminated in red. People attending are asked to wear white.

"HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately affect communities of color, youth, women, and the trans community," organizers said.

Dining Out for Life

In the northern Bay Area Thursday, the nonprofit Food for Thought in Sonoma County will join with numerous area restaurants to honor World AIDS Day with the 15th annual Dining Out for Life.

The 87 restaurants and cafes participating will donate 25 percent to 50 percent of the day's sales to the nonprofit, which provides nutritional services to over 800 people living with HIV and other serious illnesses in the county.

"It's our biggest fundraiser of the year," stated Ron Karp, Food for Thought's executive director. "The proceeds from Dining Out for Life ensure that we're able to keep providing fresh groceries, a congregate lunch program, produce from our organic garden, vitamins and supplements, and nutrition education to our clients, who receive these services for free and for as long as they need them."

Food For Thought hopes to raise over $165,000 from the event. For the complete restaurant list, visit http://www.FFTfoodbank.org.

Dining Out for Life spokesman and Project Runway All Stars winner Mondo Guerra will also reveal a video Thursday meant to emphasize "Pozitivity."

"When I was first diagnosed with HIV, I could have chosen to see my status as devastating - and respond accordingly," Guerra said in a news release. "Instead, I made a conscious choice to live with HIV in ways that challenge and inspire me both as an artist and as an advocate. ... I now choose to live each and every day with a positive spirit, and I'm positive that I am better for it. That's the power of pozitivity that I hope to share."

San Francisco Interfaith Council

At 4 p.m. Sunday, December 4, Congregation Sha'ar Zahav, 290 Dolores Street, will host the San Francisco Interfaith Council in recognition of World AIDS Day. The theme is "Where We Find Hope."

"Many think that the threat of AIDS/HIV is over," Reverend Maggi Henderson, pastor of Old First Presbyterian Church, said in an email. "Others believe that an HIV diagnosis is a death sentence. Reality lies between these beliefs. My church experienced horrific loss of life in the 1980s and 1990s, but it made us step up, offer support for our members and friends, and advocate for the LGBTQ community. I would love to see the day when this service can be canceled because a cure has been found. However, until that day this service is a place for grief, remembrance, hope, empowerment and advocacy."

The service will include music by the choral group Lady Parts and Cantor Sharon Bernstein, prayers from a variety of interfaith traditions, and various speakers.