Lisa Anne Porter, assistant professor of drama in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and a group of nine VPA students will participate in AIDS/Life Cycle 4, the official cycling event of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the HIV/AIDS services of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, June 5-11.
AIDS/Life Cycle is a seven-day, 585-mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to make a difference in the lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. Porter's team, Number 523, will ride 80-90 miles a day on average, camping out each night. Its members are raising a minimum of $2,500 each to help beneficiaries provide services and education to meet the growing needs of the HIV/AIDS community.
Porter, who lost her father to AIDS in 1988 and watched many of his friends pass away, began the project as a way of honoring him and doing something constructive with her grief. She announced to her students that she was taking on the challenge and asked if anyone would join her. Seniors Darcy Fowler, Heather Robb, Ana-Isabel Mercado and Eric Bailey; juniors Hans Flinch and Joseph Tannenbaum; sophomores Alana "Lulu" Fogarty and Marie Buck; and freshman Drew Moerlein responded.
Team 523 has been training individually and together. Once the weather improves, they will begin to ride outdoors every weekend until the end of the semester. They are fundraising individually and as a group. Money given to the group is divided evenly among the team.
Anyone willing to make a donation can visit the team's Web site and follow the instructions. Porter and her team also need help with support items such as gear, sleeping bags and airfare. Their hope is to make their minimum goal and use any additional monies to conduct a fundraiser for a local AIDS organization.
For more information, visit http://www.aidslifecycle.org/523.
