BEING ALIVE

My husband and I recently attended a charity event/auction that was held by a friend of ours.  The charity was for a program called "Being Alive" and they are the HIV/AIDS program established in San Diego.  Our friend is the program manager of Being Alive and works extremely hard in this endeavor without much staff and with very limited resources. 

The event she put together was very well done.  It was held in an old, beautiful hotel called Park Manor where the top floor opens up to the outside and the view of the city, Coronado and the airport was spectacular.  She had delicious food, drinks, and a acrobatic troop that rivaled some of the Cirque teams that I have seen.  She was able to secure donations for auctions (artwork, baskets of goodies, Padre tickets) so that everyone would have a great selection of things to bid on.

Many last minute problems occurred that she handled so well that if I hadn't been aware would never had known anything was wrong.  When her auctioneer couldn't make it at the last minute she filled in and did a fantastic job. 

During conversations in the past  I asked her how difficult is it to raise money for HIV/AIDS these days.  She told me that in the best of times it is difficult to raise money for a disease that many people turn a blind eye to, or that have prejudices toward, but in this economic climate it is almost impossible.  She also said if I had a picture of any child (starving, injured, etc. ) to show the money is easy to raise, but no one wants to see a picture of an AIDS patient, 

I admire the difficult job she is doing and her willingness to continue when times are tough.  Without people like her to do the difficult work who amoung us would? 

I am proud to have her as a friend and admire her for never giving up. 

JOB WELL DONE!