Bishop Reding Students Host Pasta Dinner for World AIDS Day 2009

Alex Schroder, Give a Day supporter at Bishop Reding High School in Milton, Ontario writes…In honour of World Aids Day, the Student Athletic Association at Bishop Reding High School hosted their second annual pasta dinner on December 2nd.

When deciding where to direct our money this year, Give a Day and the Stephen Lewis Foundation seemed like the perfect decision; as the founder of Give A Day, Jane Philpott, is a close friend of mine and having heard Stephen Lewis speak on numerous occasions, he inspired me by his passion to “turn the tide on AIDS” by helping individuals at the grassroots level.  The night began with a delicious dinner provide by East Side Mario’s.  Over 100 community members attended, local retailers donated items for the silent auction and the new “Harambee” CD was for sale.  Margaret Wright, the Director of Operations for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, was our guest of honour.  She gave a moving speech on the plight of the millions of AIDS orphans in Africa.  I believe that it is important for people our age to be made aware of what is happening in our world and that the deciding factor that determines your likelihood of getting treatment for HIV should not be the country you are born in.

Students signed the "We Gave a Day" poster to show their support.

The evening was a huge success, raising over $2000 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and it has inspired others to take action and create awareness for the AIDS/HIV pandemic.  By supporting this event people in our community were recognizing the need for change and responding to the crisis.

Alex and Katrien with cupcakes that were donated for the event.

Bishop Reding Fundraising Committee and Student Athletic Association who helped make the evening happen.

Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP- “Just Results” Auction for Give a Day

Vanessa Payne from SGM writes…When Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP decided to participate in the Give a Day Campaign in 2007, we wondered what we could do to raise as much money as possible, given that we are a relatively small firm.  We decided that a combination of humour and fear of public humiliation might do the trick, and the “Just Results Auction” was born (“Just Results” is the firm’s tag line).  The auction is now held each year in late November or early December to coincide with World AIDS Day and the Give a Day Campaign.

The Just Results Auction is both a silent auction and a live auction.  Lawyers and staff donate items for the silent auction, and food and drinks are available at the same time. During the silent auction this year, a staff member painted a partner’s face/head to look like a giant hamburger – it was a challenge that resulted in a $500 donation to the Campaign.

After the silent auction ends, the live auction begins.  The items available in the live auction give winning bidders an opportunity to make a lawyer(s) do something.  For example, there are some fairly innocuous items such as bidding to have a lawyer buy you flowers once a month for three months, to buy and deliver to you a fancy coffee once a week for 6 weeks, or to buy you a cake on your birthday.  Another item gives the winning bidder a right to pick a lawyer to go around the office at the end of a day and collect all the dirty glasses and mugs.  One year, a winning bidder could choose a lawyer to switch work stations with a staff member for a day. As a result, one of our lawyers wound up spending a day at reception answering the telephones and receiving courier packages (I’m not exactly sure what the receptionist did that day!).

However, the live auction items that raise the most money are not so benign – these items involve making lawyers perform at the firm’s holiday party, which takes place three or four weeks after the auction.  For example, one item gives the winning bidder(s) the right to choose 2 or 3 lawyers to act out a scene from a movie (chosen by the winning bidder) at the holiday lunch.  Past performances have included scenes from Brokeback Mountain and Pulp Fiction.  Another item gives the winner(s) the right to choose 2-3 lawyers to sing a song of the winner’s choice at the lunch (a performance of “Like a Virgin” by two male lawyers was particularly popular).  So in addition to raising money for a good cause, the auction also helps liven up our holiday party with all kinds of strange performances.

The main performance, however, takes place in our office the morning of the holiday party. The winning bidder(s) can select 5 or 6 lawyers to perform a pre-selected song.  For the past two years, these performances have been videotaped by a staff member.  You can see last year’s performance here. (You may notice that other people in our building also get to enjoy the show).

This past year, bidding on this item went crazy – it started out normally enough, but two “consortiums” of lawyers, staff and students suddenly emerged and started bidding against each other. In the end, the auctioneer decided to take everybody’s money and let each group choose 3 of the performers.  This added about $3000 to the total and resulted in this performance.

The Just Results Auction is one of the highlights of the year at SGM.  Hilarity reigns (even during bidding on the more benign items) usually as a result of the antics of our auctioneer, Mark Wright  (who is also the policeman in the first video and the guy wearing the mini-skirt in the second video).  The auction is fun, so it is well attended.  The desire (of at least some lawyers) to avoid being chosen to perform creates bidding wars – and bidding wars mean more money for the Campaign.

Now we just have to think of a great song for the group performance this year!

World AIDS Day 2009 – Harambee Blues

In honour of World AIDS Day 2009, and to celebrate the release of the Harambee! CD, on Tuesday, December 1^st an extraordinary night of music took place at the Silver Dollar Room in Toronto.  Harambee Blues was organized by Anne Stadlmair and the Tia Anita Project and those attending were inspired and entertained with fantastic music from Blue Room, Mike Stevens, Madagascar Slim and Digging Roots.  Hosts for the evening were Uitsile Ndlovu and Simba Nyawiri from Soul Influence.  We would like to express our sincere gratitude to Anne Stadlmair and to all the artists who showed their support for the Give a Day campaign and recipient organizations Dignitas International and the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Information on purchasing copies of the HARAMBEE! CD is available by contacting info@giveaday.ca or by visiting the Tia Anita Project website.

Dr. Jane Philpott addresses the crowd. Photo by Ed Michael Roth.

Hosts for the evening, Simba Nyawiri and Uitsile Ndlovu. Photo by Ed Michael Roth.

Blue Room. Photo by Ed Michael Roth.

Harmonica virtuoso Mike Stevens. Photo by Ed Michael Roth.

Madagascar Slim. Photo by Ed Michael Roth.

An incredible performance by Digging Roots and Madagascar Slim.

Strength and Hope – The Grandmothers of Africa

Dr. Lorna Adams, Give a Day supporter writes…There is no doubt.  The grannies of sub-Saharan Africa are holding the continent up on their shoulders.  I have met so many grannies, and they are the glue that is keeping what is left of the families of this continent together.  They are making new families.  They incorporate the children of their next door neighbour into their new family group, and the children of their deceased sister’s friend’s daughter, and the children of their grandchildren’s teacher, into their family unit.  And then they look in on the children in the home down the street, where there is a 13 year old, raising her brothers and sisters.  They are utterly exhausted, at times, with the demands that they have accepted for themselves.  But they continue, because, who else will do it?  They know there are too many deaths; there is a coffin maker in every town, even if there are not many other businesses.  There is always need of a coffin during this pandemic that is HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.  And the grannies continue on, caring, loving, doing as best as they can, in a situation that does, at times feel overwhelming.

Grandmother Grace with her grandson, Emmanuel

But, there is HOPE.  A recent report, prepared by the WHO with UNICEF and UNAIDS, states that there has been significant progress in care of people living with HIV since the beginning of this decade. This report states that 42% of people in the developing world who are infected, and should be on ARV medication are now on medication.  Just a few years ago, there was still debate among AIDS experts about the safety of offering a difficult treatment program to people in areas of the world most affected.  Dignitas International has proven that it is safe, feasible, affordable and completely doable.  As Jane Philpott has said, “AIDS is outrageous….and solvable”.  I’m not sure I entirely agreed with Jane before I went to work in Africa with Dignitas International, but I sure do now.

University of Western Ontario Harambee

World AIDS Day Harambee in Port Perry

The first ever Port Perry Harambee was hosted by Dr. Steve Russell in the clinic boardroom on December 1st. A catered lunch was enjoyed, great music from the new Harambee CD and everyone tuned in to YouTube messages from Dignitas International, the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and Give a Day founder Jane Philpott. Each year, more of the medical and support staff join in the campaign, and each year everyone is affirmed in the resolve together to be part of the solution.

World AIDS Day 2009 – We Share This Path Together

Dr. Jane Philpott, Give a Day Founder writes…My love of African proverbs is no secret. It always makes me happy to stumble on a new proverb about health or education or justice. This week I learned a new proverb from Burkina Faso that speaks to the work of the Give a Day movement. It says: “If you want to walk fast, walk alone; if you want to walk far, walk with others.”.

To reach a world without AIDS, we have to walk far. We must therefore walk the path together.

How I wish we could walk fast and see this pandemic ended immediately. Every extra day that it takes means a difference between life and death for thousands. The solutions are not simple. Clearly we need to “walk with others”.  When we do work together, I’m convinced the problem of HIV is solvable.

Yesterday in this blog, Tim O’Shea wrote about the heartwrenching statistics on vertical virus transmission. He said that “The fact that transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child continues to occur at such rates at a time when we know how to reliably manage this risk should be source of shame for the entire international community.” I wholeheartedly agree. So what will it take?

It will take money… large amounts of money from the international community and smaller amounts of money raised by movements like Give a Day.

It will take political will… which is built by movements like Give a Day where ordinary people act in solidarity with people they will never meet to address an injustice that affects us all.

It will take solid infrastructure to be built and maintained in order to deliver and sustain the top-quality healthcare systems that everyone with HIV must be able to access.

It will take a concerted commitment to address all of the global issues that impact health including food security, gender equity, education and more.

We may be daunted by the magnitude of the task. But we have already come a long way. In the five years since the Give a Day movement started, the number of people in the world on antiretroviral treatment has increased by ten-fold! This has happened through extraordinary efforts of countless people around the world.

To reach a world without AIDS, we have to walk far. We share this path together.

Please engage in an act of solidarity today. Please give a day’s pay… because a day makes a world of difference.

Dr. Jane Philpott, Founder of Give a Day to World AIDS

Give a Day on CBC’s Metro Morning with Andy Barrie

Listen to an interview with Dr. Jane Philpott, on CBC’s Metro Morning at www.CBC.ca/metromorning

Reflections on the AIDS Epidemic Update for 2009 – Dr. Tim O’Shea

Dr. Tim O’Shea, Give a Day supporter writes…UNAIDS recently released their AIDS Epidemic Update for 2009.  In previous blogs I have emphasized how important it is to keep in mind the personal stories behind the staggering statistics associated with this virus.  However, reflecting on the information contained in the update, it becomes clear that the numbers do indeed speak for themselves.  The overall numbers are jarring; in 2008 there were 33 million people living with HIV,  an astounding 2.7 million new infections and 2 million deaths.  Looking deeper at the statistics, however, reveals what for me is one of the most outrageous aspects of the HIV pandemic . The burden of this disease is being borne increasingly by the women and children of sub-Saharan Africa.  Over 14 million children have been orphaned since the start of the epidemic, and astoundingly 91% of the 430,000 children born with HIV in 2008 were born in sub-Saharan Africa.  The fact that transmission of the HIV virus from mother to child continues to occur at such rates at a time when we know how to reliably manage this risk should be a source of shame for the entire international community. 

                Reading and reflecting on statistics such as these can leave one alternating between feelings of deep outrage and depression, guilt and hopelessness.  The scope of the pandemic seems so overwhelming, and the problems so complex that it is difficult to know how to make a difference.  That is why it is so essential to learn about the work that organizations such as Dignitas International and the Stephen Lewis Foundation are carrying out.  Visit their websites, attend a talk, volunteer, Give a Day.  Getting involved with these groups will begin to replace your sense of rage with a sense of purpose, and your feelings of despair with hope.

Harambee Blues – World AIDS Day 2009- The Silver Dollar Room

On Tuesday, December 1st, World AIDS Day, come to “Harambee Blues” – a night of music for World AIDS Day , and the CD launch of “Harambee!” featuring Madagascar Slim, Digging Roots, Mike Stevens, Blue Room with hosts for the evening Uitsile Ndlovu and Simba Nyawiri (of Soul Influence). The event takes place at the Silver Dollar Room in Toronto (486 Spadina Ave) – doors open at 6:00pm (dinner menu available), and the show begins at 7:30pm. Admission is $10.00   http://www.silverdollarroom.com/