Nearly $60,000 raised for World AIDS Day

PRESS RELEASE: December 14, 2006

Nearly $60,000 raised for World AIDS Day

Close to $60,000 has been raised for the New Zealand AIDS Foundation at World AIDS Day events and collections around the country, and NZAF Fundraiser and Events Co-ordinator Larry Jenkins is thrilled with the result.

“The ongoing and overwhelming support for World AIDS Day fundraising is just growing amazingly,” he says. “Next year will be even better.”

Wellington again took the record for the largest street collection. 70 volunteers worked from 6am till 11pm to collect at least $21,000 for the NZAF Wellness Fund, which provides direct individual care and support for those living with HIV and AIDS.

In Auckland, the “Queen of the Whole Universe” pageant played to an audience of 1,700 and raised a record-breaking $26,000-plus for NZAF. “With over 120 volunteers involved, we’re overawed by the support for fighting HIV through this event,” says Jenkins.

Auckland’s street collection raised over $6,000 during the day for NZAF’s Wellness Fund, with an extra $1,000 being raised for Body Positive through an evening bar collection. Other innovative street collections saw “Condom Man” take to the streets in Dunedin with the NZPC and Working Together co-op, and drag artiste Ellie Kat shaking buckets in Nelson with a collection organised by NZAF Life Member Kevin Jensen and a team of volunteers.

The inaugural Red Party fundraiser at CRUZ Bar in Christchurch raised approximately $1790 for NZAF’s Wellness Fund and was a spectacular night with about 200 people in attendance. Audiences were treated to stunning performances by Miss Cindy, Kitana, Air Homo, Stella, Dorabella, Venus, Idol, Sebastian, and compère Nic Tomlinson.

Other fundraising activities included film screenings at Auckland’s Academy Cinema and Wellington’s Empire in support of aid agencies working for HIV/AIDS causes overseas, NZAF, and HIV-positive support groups; and a nationwide collection through the Body Shop.

“I’d like to extend our gratitude to all who helped out,” Jenkins says. “Our volunteers, who spent hours making the ribbons and then getting on the streets promoting the fight against HIV, our staff in all four centres of the NZAF, the organisations and firms who collected for us – including the Body Shop, IBM, Sky TV, the cinemas in Auckland and Wellington, and the many clinics, clubs and individuals up and down New Zealand.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media