World AIDS Day Events Offer Time to Remember

San Francisco AIDS agencies will mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 by hosting several events.

*The National AIDS Memorial Grove will hold its annual “Action=Life” observance from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The program begins at noon and will be followed by a light lunch; admission is free.

On Wednesday evening, the “Light in the Grove” benefit will commemorate the grove’s 20th anniversary. Attendees are invited to submit a photograph of someone to remember and honor at the event; pictures can be e-mailed to mailto:photos@aidsmemorial.org. For ticket prices and more information, visit: http://www.aidsmemorial.org.

*”Paint the Castro Red,” a Dec. 1 awareness effort, will commemorate those people lost to AIDS and inspire more action among district residents. Participating Castro businesses, restaurants and bars will donate 10 percent-15 percent of the day’s sales in support of the 30AIDS coalition comprising 16 local groups. Castro Street will be festooned with red lights, red ribbons and red balloons. For more information, go to http://www.30AIDS.org.

*At 7 p.m. on Dec. 1, San Francisco’s Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., will hold a special screening of the HIV Story Project’s “Still Around” short film compilation. The showing is part of Outcast Film’s touring series “HIV@30: Looking Back, Moving Forward.”

A second feature, “Sex in an Epidemic,” screens at 8:45 p.m. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased at http://roxie.com; some of the ticket sales proceeds will go to the University of California-San Francisco Alliance Health Project, formerly known as UCSF AIDS Health Project.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.

TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!