Help Fight AIDS Through Books and Music, a volunteer project for the AIDS Council still needs to fill over 100 volunteer spots between now and Christmas Eve.

The volunteer opportunities include wrapping books at Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza and staffing sales in Crossgates Mall and in front of Boscovs in Colonie Center.

While the main purpose of these events is fundraising to support the AIDS Council’s clients–objectives also include outreach for the AIDS Council and support for the value of community service.

Even if your time is limited, this is a project where you can get personally involved for just a few hours. This is a great opportunity for groups, family members, friends or individuals to show support in the fight against AIDS.

For more information or to volunteer, contact:

Steve Kozlowski
Volunteer Project Coordinator
HelpFightAIDS Through Books and Music

steve@helpfightaids.com
(518) 482-5602
www.helpfightaids.com

Help By Shopping

Buy a Help Fight AIDS plush animal with the label showing our project logo! Volunteers will be selling these critters at Crossgates Mall on the lower level near The Gap and in front of Boscovs, Colonie Center starting December 6 at various times. They are only $5.00 each and make great stocking stuffers and symbols of your support.

Also, on sale will be 2009 Entertainment Books at $30 and Enjoy The City Books at $20. They make great gifts!

You can also make purchases on-line.
www.helpfightaids.com

December 1, 2008 is World AIDS Day, a national day of remembrance of those who left us too early and of those who will leave us too early, whose contributions we will never know. World AIDS Day is a reminder that we have more work to do to prevent more unnecessary illness and death and others from succumbing in the future. World AIDS Day is a call to action to our community.

Please join the greater Glens Falls Community and local volunteers from the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York for a memorial program beginning at 6:00 pm at the Bandstand in Glens Falls City Park. Mayor Jack Diamond will begin the program by reading the World AIDS Day Proclamation, followed by a candlelight walk to The Charles R. Wood Theatre at 207 Glen Street. Those who do not wish to walk can meet at the Charles R. Wood Theatre at 7:00 pm, where a musical performance and program in memory of those in our community who have died from AIDS and those who are living with the disease will begin.

Guest speaker for the World AIDS Day remembrance is Corey Day, a Hebron, NY (Washington County) native. Corey will discuss his life – from childhood to young adulthood – as a person born with HIV, his adoption into a loving family, and how we lives fully and responsibly with the disease.

Vocal performances at the World AIDS Day remembrance will be given by opera singer Gisella Montanez-Case and actress, singer, comedienne and cabaret star Laura Roth. New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) soloist Kelsey Finley, a Senior at Fort Ann High School, will also perform. Piano accompaniment will be provided by Douglas Bischoff. The evening will close with bagpipe selections performed by Allan Clugston, a member of the Galloway Gaelic Pipes & Drums.

The Charles R. Wood Theatre will display a panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The AIDS Memorial Quilt was conceived in 1987 as a memorial to those lost to AIDS; since 1987, the quilt has grown to a 54-ton tapestry including more than 45,000 panels dedicated to more than 88,000 individuals. It is the largest piece of community art in the world. Donations of personal toiletry items will be accepted at the Charles R. Wood Theatre for distribution by the AIDS Council to those living with or affected by HIV/AIDS in the greater Glens Falls community.

Light refreshments will be served at the event, which is free and open to the public.

Today, World AIDS Day, the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York marks the beginning of its 25th Anniversary year of service to the Capital Region; to providing help and hope to thousands of our neighbors who have passed due to the virus, and to the thousands more in our community who are living with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

December 1 is also the 19th anniversary of Day Without Art, which started as a National Day of Action and Mourning to make the public aware that AIDS can touch everyone and inspire positive action. The arts community did what it does best – use its powerful, creative voice to get people to think, learn and take action. Out of this day came the Red Ribbon – standing for clarity, unity, compassion and determination.

In that spirit, twenty-five of the Downtown Albany BID’s Sculpture in the Streets public art and historic sculptures throughout Albany were shrouded in white with the familiar red ribbon. The 25 public art pieces represent the cultural, historical and social diversity of Albany. HIV/AIDS has affected – and continues to affect – every aspect of our community. Each sculpture shrouded today represents a year in the history of the AIDS Council, and how the AIDS Council provides service to every aspect of the City of Albany, the Capital Region and Northeastern New York.

At a press conference today at City Hall, Mayor Jennings and special guests Kate Shindle — Miss America 1998, Broadway Star and AIDS Activist — and Leigh-Taylor Smith, reigning Miss New York State, helped to reveal the meaning of the shrouds as an observance of Day Without Art and to help bring attention to the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York.

So today as you look out across the landscape of Albany and you take in the 25 white shrouds with the striking red ribbons where once beautiful art stood, take a moment to think what would happen if this art disappeared permanently. What would the City of Albany be like if the AIDS Council disappeared? What would happen to the world if we don’t recognize that there has been progress – but still no solution – to the HIV/AIDS epidemic?

You can help stop HIV/AIDS. Get tested. Get involved. For more information on how you can help, please visit www.aidscouncil.org.

Sculptures Shrouded in Commemoration of World AIDS Day/Day WithOut Art

1. “Harmony”* – North Pearl St. & Hudson Street
2. “Strength”* – North Pearl St. & Beaver St.
3. “Volta Del Gioioso”* – North Pearl Street & Maiden Lane
4. “Torso”* – North Pearl St. at Capital Repertory Theatre
5. “The Throwdown”* – Palace Theatre
6. “ Night Fire”* – I-787 Off-Ramp
7. “Triangle Tango”* – Across from Tricentennial Park.
8. “Red Bud”* – Tricentennial Park
9. “Assiduity”* – Tricentennial Park
10. “Mayor Whalen” – Tricentennial Park
11. “The Hudson”* – Albany Center Gallery
12. “Pondrat”* – Broadway at Hudson River Walkway Bridge
13. “The Guardian”* – Broadway & State St.
14. “Hjelmos”* – 110 State
15. “Central Essence” – State St. & Lodge St
16. Sculpture Garden – Albany Institute of History & Art
17. “Henry Johnson” – Washington Park
18. “Burns Monument” – Washington Park
19. “Moses” – Washington Park
20. Spanish-American War Memorial – Townsend Park
21. “Philip Schuyler” – City Hall
22. “Mayor Erastus Corning, 2nd” – Academy Park
23. “Joseph Henry” – Academy Park
24. “Lewis Swyer” – Academy Park
25. “Martin Luther King, Jr.” – Lincoln Park