Bay Area Reporter - September 11, 2008
Heather Tirado Gilligan

The group's Bus of Hope, a hand-painted, rainbow-colored school bus, is set to depart San Francisco on October 4 as it heads to its final destination of Tijuana, Mexico on October 13. The bus will collect medical supplies, school supplies, and grant money from a number of stops in California that will then be dropped off with residents south of the border.

Jeff Cotter, president of Rainbow World Fund, hopes that the bus will leave the city already packed with donations. RWF has a drop-off box at the LGBT Community Center on Market Street waiting to be filled with needed supplies.

Tijuana, mere miles south of San Diego, suffers from a depth of poverty generally unknown in the United States, Cotter said.

"The separation [between the cities] is one that we've created in our minds," Cotter added.

Small gifts of bars of soap, pens, and pencils will make a huge difference in the lives of people across the border, said Cotter, as will larger gifts of money and medical supplies, all of which are being collected at the center's front desk in its lobby.

"The LGBT community knows a lot about suffering, and a lot about compassion," Cotter said of his success in mobilizing the community to support humanitarian work.

The supplies will have four primary recipients: an orphanage for children abandoned because of their HIV status; a second for children in need; a primary care clinic serving people with HIV/AIDS; and an education project that serves poor children.

The organizations, and the health clinic in particular, "work with the poorest of the poor and the gay community" in Mexico, Cotter said.

The Bus of Hope project is the latest venture of RWF, an organization defined by its work in Central American countries, especially Guatemala. It has been waiting for the right project to expand into distributing aid in Mexico, Cotter said.

The rainbow school bus, originally a float in the Pride parade, seemed like the perfect place to start, Cotter said. When first approached about making a float for the Pride parade by Pride Executive Director Lindsey Jones, Cotter said he was initially reluctant.

"I realized they tear the floats down like 20 minutes after the parade and thought 'No, no,'" said Cotter.

Once Cotter thought of the float as a permanent way of distributing aid, however, RWF was on board. With the help of volunteers, the group secured a school bus in prime condition from a Portland Craig's List ad and drove it down to San Francisco, where more volunteers painstakingly painted it, all of which Cotter described as "a monstrous amount of work."

Cotter hopes the bus project will continue on an annual basis after its inaugural trip to "combat some of the worst poverty you'll ever see."

For a full list of supplies the group is collecting, visit the fund's Web site at http://www.rainbowfund.org.

080911
BR080904

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2008. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2008. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .