Bay Windows - April 29, 2004
R.J. Grubb, rjgrubb@baywindows.com

In an unprecedented collaboration, 18 AIDS organizations throughout Massachusetts have joined together to raise money and awareness for HIV/AIDS through a three-day, 225 mile bicycle ride across the state. Called the Mass Red Ribbon Ride, the effort is a sign of solidarity and an incremental fundraising vehicle to counter the epidemic and rouse public support.

"For a long time, I've felt that we would all be better served by working together rather than competing against one another," said Anna-Beth Winograd, Program Director of AIDS CARE/Hampshire County. "The capacity of a statewide collaboration is much larger than any one entity."

Fundraising through bike rides is both an old and new idea. While the Mass Red Ribbon Ride steps out from the shadow of the controversial for-profit, Pallotta-produced AIDS Rides, it distinguishes itself by being a grassroots, cooperative effort.

"The notion that 18 organizations from all over the state who are not used to working together have come together to say 'We are going to do this' is quite astounding," said Ride Manager Andi Genser.

The ride is produced by AIDS Action Committee (AAC), the state's largest HIV/AIDS services organization. Last year, the agency laid the ride's foundation when it self-produced a three-day pilot ride. The summer event attracted a modest total of 70 riders who pedaled from Pittsfield to Salem raising $200,000. According to AAC, 80 percent of monies raised funded the agency's client services along with programs to prevent new HIV infections.

"In some ways it was lucky that it was a smallish group," said Genser. "We're doing pretty much the same route so we've worked out most of the kinks and have the experience of doing it. And we realized it was an opportunity not just to benefit one organization but to bring other organizations together."

This January, AAC invited AIDS agencies throughout the state to join a mass cycling fundraiser. Within a month, 17 organizations replied, eager to shore up fundraising capacity and collectively increase their ability for education. The organizations range from large, metropolitan groups like the Multicultural AIDS Coalition in Boston to smaller agencies like New Bedford-based Treatment on Demand.

The decision to collaborate proved attractive for those wanting to build a united front and sustainable future. "We can bring many voices together and deliver the issue of HIV/AIDS to a larger audience," said Winograd. "This was a particular draw in enticing AIDS CARE to join the collaboration. Every merchant that takes a poster or brochure is faced with the fact that HIV/AIDS still exists in their community."

Education is critical. According to AAC, the HIV infection rate among 13-to-24-year-olds in Massachusetts has risen 43 percent in the last three years. There are two to three new infections reported in the Commonwealth every day. Women account for nearly one-third of people living with HIV/AIDS in the state, doubling the percentage from 10 years ago.

The Centers for Disease Control recently reported there are now an estimated 850,000 to 950,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in this country.

Globally, the virus is comparable to history's greatest plagues. Lasting as long as the 14th-century scourge Black Death, AIDS is predicted to reach a death toll of 40 million by 2010. Given these forecasts, HIV/AIDS is poised to become the greatest plague the world has known.

Despite global alarms and increased local caseloads, state funding has been cut by 40 percent and a once intense public outcry has diminished since the mid-'90s, when new protease drugs ended the automatic death sentence associated with a HIV diagnosis.

But new AIDS drugs that helped stop the progression of the disease in those already infected have resulted in a misperception of a cure. Countering public illusions, the Mass Red Ribbon Ride hopes to communicate the message that the epidemic is not over. "It's not a domestic priority anymore," said Genser. "And in fact the statistics are alarming. People think this is done or all I need to do is take a pill and I'll be fine. But talk to anyone who is on a series of medications and they will tell you it's not fine."

Ask Dennis Duffy, an AIDS Action Committee board member. He registered for the Mass Red Ribbon Ride to offer a sign of hope for people living with HIV/AIDS. As an HIV-positive rider, Duffy looks to the ride as a reaffirmation of his health and instrument to nail home the truth about AIDS.

"We must spread our message of prevention that HIV/AIDS is not a glamorous, managed care disease as the pharmaceutical advertisements would have us believe," he said. "It is still a fatal disease with very unglamorous side effects."

To do so, a key goal of the fundraiser is to attract as many riders as the Pallotta AIDS Rides, which reigned as one of the most significant non-governmental contributors to AIDS-related funding in the country before they ended. While ride organizers are wary of Pallotta comparisons, they benefit from the past by tailoring the event to maximize its fundraising potential and appeal.

Notably, the Mass Red Ribbon Ride offers different registration options. Rather than complete the entire three-day trek and raise a minimum of $2100, riders can opt to participate for one or two days with reduced fundraising goals. Also, as requested by riders, this year's event gives people the option to pay a $150 rider support fee or portion of the fee. The money covers expenses ranging from transport to food. According to Genser, the ride has already raised $2000 from participants who have taken this option.

Given AAC's annual budget of roughly $9 million, $2000 is not much. But with each new rider, the Mass Red Ribbon Ride builds a ladder to a larger goal. "We are really looking at the potential of five years down the road raising more than a million dollars and having more than a thousand people riding," said Genser. "We want to build it into something but we know it's going to take us a while to get there."

Genser also believes AIDS will be with us for several more generations. Acknowledging a challenging road ahead, her turnout hopes are modest at best. Instead, AAC predicts the effort's success will be measured over the months and years to come.

"We're trying to build something that will make a difference over a period of time," she said. "We're taking the long view on the ride because unfortunately we're taking the long view on HIV and AIDS."

For more information, visit www.MassRedRibbonRide.org or call 617-450-1100.

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