The life-threatening experience of Calhoun, 29, began when he was molested by a staff member when he was in pre-school, an incident that Calhoun says had a lasting impact upon him and his life.

“I was a sex addict, plain and simple,” Calhoun admits. “Multiple different partners a day.”

Calhoun—who was the subject of a cover feature last year in our sister publication, Guy Magazine (May 17, 2012: “The Art of Valyn”)—says that memories of his childhood molestation returned to him like a blow from a hammer.

“One day while I was driving, I passed by a house that was familiar,” he recalls. “I realized it was my old pre-school, and that it has since been turned into a house. From there, things started to come back to me. The memories of my molestation had been repressed for so long.”

Calhoun says that when he discovered and understood the cause for his addiction, he immediately began to practice celibacy. But it was too late.

His health began to decline, and Calhoun started to exhibit symptoms including hair loss, skin rashes, vomiting, and hallucinations. In the throes of alarming weight loss, the 95-pound Calhoun checked into a hospital.

He says that the representative from his insurance carrier assured him that the eight-day hospital stay would be covered, but that somewhere between the hospital’s diagnosis of HIV, AIDS, and Hepatitis B, that decision quickly changed.

“I was told by my insurance rep that I was covered for hospital stays,” Calhoun wrote online, at a website dedicated to soliciting donations for those in his condition and circumstances. “I was admitted for eight days until we found out I was lied to and became ‘self-pay;’ they practically kicked me out with no treatment.”

Calhoun says that although he had been tested yearly using an oral swab test, those tests apparently aren’t 100 percent accurate, and that he is living proof; he was told that doctors estimate he contracted the virus between seven and nine years ago.

Discharged from the hospital within hours of the insurance denial, Calhoun is now bedridden. He is working with the Ryan White Foundation for help with his disability eligibility, doctor visits, and treatment, but says he is buried in hospital bills and a large debt to his family.

On his donation page (which can be found at giveforward.com/hivaidstreatmentforvalyn), Calhoun reports, “I have been unable to work for so long, and my parents have been doing everything in their power to support me. We are selling everything of value so I may have a chance for quality care. Savings have been depleted and I’m scared this will financially ruin my parents. I’ve never been the kind of person to ask for money or even help for that matter—I’m just terrified that I won’t get on the right meds in time to raise my t-cells over 200, [and] my current viral load is over four million.

“ANY help would be greatly appreciated. I am a fighter and know I can get through this. I just need some help right now. I put up a picture of my body. It may scare some but this is something I see every day.”

Calhoun says that he is trying to remain upbeat, and look to the future. “I’m really just looking forward to the day when I will have the energy to work on my art and photography again,” he explains. “I want to be able to help the community by showing that you can come back from the brink and still live a happy life.”

Just like Betty White in an episode of “Golden Girls” trying to hold her breath in a hospital elevator so she wouldn’t get sick, many of us disdain even the idea of visiting a hospital for fear we might catch something that’s airborne. It makes the fear of getting sick worse for some than the potential cure! Fortunately, times have changed, and hospitals are no longer the breeding ground for illness they once were. They have also changed when it comes to serving the disparate members of the community. One case in point is Imperial Point Medical Center (6401 N Federal Hwy, Fort Lauderdale).

Tom Kester, Regional Director of Surgical Services for Imperial Point—part of the Broward Health system—is a true friend to the LGBT community. He, along with Imperial Point’s new CEO, Abigail Fortey, have established meaningful ties to Greater Fort Lauderdale’s LGBT community, recognizing the relationship between community partnership and trust, and providing health care to that community. “One of the reasons that I joined Imperial Point was that we embrace domestic partnership rights,” notes Kester. “That is huge in the medical field. Of course,” he adds, “all of the Broward Health facilities recognize domestic partnerships.”

Kester points to the region’s changing needs in health care. “At one time we had a huge HIV/AIDS department. Now, thanks to medical treatment advances, we don’t see that need as it was 25 years ago,” he explains. “At that time, Father William Collins of The Poverello Center served as chaplain. He did so much good work, and he still does,” Kester adds, flashing a smile. He goes over some of the essential services Imperial Point provides.

“Women have so many services offered to them, such as mammograms and other health screenings.” And then there’s “the Man Van.”

“That is not the official name of the project,” Kester explains, laughing. “The idea behind it is that men have health issues, and this van will operate like some of the HIV screening vans do. We are eventually looking at the following tests to be done on site, or we will refer the patient to the proper specialist for further testing: Gastrointestinal/ colonoscopy and sigmoidoscopy, urology and prostate exams, cardiac screening, eye exams, diabetes screening, weight control, skin health, low testosterone, erectile dysfunction, and basic health education—and that’s just scratching the surface,” he adds.

Imperial Point is about to celebrate 40 years of providing uninterrupted service. The medical center plans to mark the occasion on Saturday, October 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with something for everyone including screenings for blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol, and more. The event will also feature free therapeutic chair massages, a Halloween-themed corner and bounce house for kids, caricature artist and face painting, food, refreshments, all sorts of prizes and giveaways, live entertainment, and the blood bank bus.

For more information, call (954) 759-7400, or visit browardhealth.org/40years.

Since 1986, The Poverello Center has provided lifesaving food and living essentials to Broward County residents who are living with HIV/AIDS, and who meet basic specified qualifications.

For Tom Smith, CEO of Poverello, his service to the organization, and the clients whose needs it serves, has spanned more than 20 years. It started when Smith heard about a Roman Catholic priest named Father Bill Collins, who served at St. Coleman Parish in Pompano Beach. At that time, Collins was working to find sponsors to assist a needy family at Christmastime. Smith went to St. Coleman, banged on the door, and asked to speak to Collins, who explained the troubling circumstances: The distressed family had five children, and three were HIV-positive.

Although initially the plan for the assistance called for raising as much money as possible, and using it to purchase clothing and toys for the kids, enough was raised to get the family food, as well. After that inspiring success, the core group of volunteers decided that they wanted to keep the project going. The next year, Smith held a fundraising event at his home, and decided that it would benefit young men who were infected with what many called the “gay flu.”

“We realized that so many of these young men were being shunned by their families, and many were being abandoned by them,” Smith recalls. “That first year, we set up long banquet tables, and charged a minimum $25 per person donation, and each person had to bring a covered dish. About an hour in, there was a knock on the door, and a rush of drag queens poured in, shouting, ‘We’re here to perform and to help.’ We turned the living room into a dressing room with foam rubber, eyelashes, powder, lipstick, and make up of all kinds everywhere. At one point it looked as if a drag queen had exploded. We didn’t have a stage, so we took one of the banquet tables and collapsed the legs, laid it on the ground, and it became the stage. During the evening they blew out the speakers on my sound system, but they just kept going. We raised over $3,700.”

Smith had stumbled onto something: A formula for success. “The next year, Charlie Mielke and Tony Dee, the owners of Chardee’s restaurant in Wilton Manors, underwrote the entire evening. That year we raised enough money to help purchase a new truck for Poverello, because the one they had—you could sit in the cab, and see the street below you, sort of a ‘Fred Flintstone truck,’” he adds.

Times have changed, but the need hasn’t. Today, Poverello serves more than 3,000 clients. This month alone, the group will distribute over 3,000 boxes of food, with a bill running in the neighborhood of $96,000—an expensive neighborhood, as you can see. And next year, county budget cuts are likely to translate to a 50 percent reduction in funding for food banks. “It’s been a tough year so far, but we are doing everything we can to turn things around. Our 22nd Annual Bowl-AThon is coming up [this month], and we are hoping to have a stellar year,” Smith adds. (As a matter of fact, he roped me in to help get items for the event’s silent auction, as well as to emcee—my fourth year, so how could I say no?)

Smith is also proud that Poverello has a new home, located at 2056 North Dixie Highway, with expanded hours, which the upbeat CEO hopes—despite funding cuts from every level of government— will allow the organization to help more clients than ever before.

“The City of Wilton Manors has gone out of their way to help with the project,” he says, noting, too, that once completed, the project will be “green-friendly,” and ready to continue serving the community for many years to come.

For more information, visit Poverello.org.

Martha Boggs, the owner of the restaurant—located, coincidentally, on Gay Street—had heard a radio interview with Campfield in which the lawmaker made what she considered to be disparaging remarks about homosexuality.

Campfield, who recently sponsored legislation requiring elementary and middle schools to teach only heterosexually-based sex education, told ABC News that he was taken completely by surprise by Boggs’ actions. “We were just standing there waiting for a table, and this woman came up to me saying ‘I’m not serving you, I’m not serving you, you hate gay people,’” Campfield said. “‘I said ma’am I’m not a homophobe,’ and I offered to send her links from the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] Web site to back up what I said about homosexuality being a dangerous lifestyle, and being a risky behavior.”

The CDC links that Campfield referred to include statistics from 2008 data which indicate that 54 percent of HIV cases diagnosed that year were from same sex contact among males, while 32 percent was contracted from heterosexual sexual contact. The data did not address female homosexual sex.

Campfield, however, was not as thorough during the radio interview, claiming that it is “virtually impossible” to contract HIV or AIDS through heterosexual behavior.

“My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex,” Campfield said.

Boggs said she has no regrets, despite some local backlash. “It was one of those spur of the moment things. I didn’t think about what I was doing, but all I did was look at his smug face, and told myself I do not want to serve him. His comments have gone from stupid to dangerous and I think someone needs to stand up to him,” Boggs told ABC News. “I think Mr. Campfield is a bully, so I just stood up to a bully.”

Pride Pharmacy and Midland Medical in Fort Lauderdale pride themselves on providing a one-stop location dedicated to your good health. Midland Medical specializes in men’s health, including diagnostics with on-site labs, and HIV specialties, in addition to being AAHIVM-certified.

Pride Pharmacy is a specialty pharmacy that also provides free delivery to its customers. Co-owners Greg West and Steven Levin hope local residents will find all the medical services they need under one, convenient roof at 2701 E Oakland Park Boulevard, sharing the same strip mall as Lips Cabaret.

West is a co-owner, but he does more than just sit behind a desk. He also helps out in the pharmacy and works as patient liaison and advocate. “If anybody has a problem,” West said, “they come to me and I try to straighten out their problems.” West  also has been known to deliver prescriptions to customers.

West noted that Pride Pharmacy is not 100% gay-owned and operated: there is a mix of gay and straight principals. “But with a name like ‘Pride Pharmacy’, we would have to be very gay-friendly,” he added.

The price of prescription drugs is always of concern to customer, and West says that he and staff are sensitive to economic realities, and make every effort to keep prices for prescription medications as low as possible. “We’re here to help the community,” said West. “We are very much aware of other pharmacies’ prices on meds, and are very competitively priced. You won’t find medications priced higher here, and we will try everything we can to be less.”

West said that Pride Pharmacy uses co-pay cards to cover a patient’s co-pay drug expenses. This could save customers potentially hundreds of dollars a month. Some save as much as four or five hundred dollars monthly. West explained that by not being a chain pharmacy, they have the flexibility to adjust without corporate oversight from hundreds of miles away.

Through the door in the waiting area of Pride Medical is Midland Medical, a state-of-the-art medical clinic with the ability to serve most patients’ examination needs. Midland is a one-stop clinic for diagnostic, medical, lab, and chiropractic services, as well as immunizations, prosthetics, boosters, Botox, and much more.

“The one thing I really love about Midland Medical,” said West, “is the personalized service. The doctors actually know
your name.”

West explained that Midland is not an assembly line doctor’s office. Patients will experience a different approach to their medical needs. “This is not the sort of practice where you take a number, have a seat, be directed to the first room, and spend five minutes with a nurse, be directed to a second room, wait another ten minutes with a nurse, then be directed to the third
room where you actually see a doctor for about two minutes.”

“We are compassionate with our patients,” said Anetha Jones, the practice’s head medical assistant. “We personally sit down and consult with our patients. Sometimes we feed them, or bring them food, whatever it takes to make our patients happy and healthy.”

At Midland, West said, patients are seen by a doctor in a straightforward manner, and given their diagnosis “in plain English, not ‘doctor-eze,’ so the patient understands what the doctor is saying without a lot of medical jargon,” West added.

Trudy Zengler, Midland’s office manager, said that Midland is the most caring medical facility she has ever seen. “Everybody  here really cares about the patients. The patients are family,” she said. “I think we put forth the effort to make sure our patients are taken care of and provide the best  care we can.”

Zengler has firsthand knowledge of Midland’s care and practices from an outsider’s perspective. Prior to her employment, she owned a medical billing company, which gave her the opportunity to interface with the operations of many medical facilities, and Midland was a client of Zengler’s company. That changed in 2009 when Zengler was hired to work at Midland.

Zengler and the rest of the staff are well acquainted with West’s mantra about customer service. “Customer service is our top priority at both Pride Pharmacy and Midland Medical,” said West. “We are not your typical pharmacy. We are not your typical doctor’s office. We also have a very high ratio of keeping people healthy and
out of the hospital.”

West explained that recently he spent four hours helping a patient navigate his way through some insurance-related matters. The patient was talked out of his previous insurance plan by the insurance company’s representative. But his new insurance plan didn’t cover the cost of medication. The patient’s medicine bill was close to $3,000 a month.

“He couldn’t afford that. Who can?” sympathized West. “It took about four hours, but we got him back on his original insurance policy. We go out of our way to help people.”

Pride Pharmacy has been open for three years, and has Monday through Saturday business hours. Midland Medical has  been in operation for almost six years, and
is currently open from Tuesday through Saturday.

Honorees included: John Zieba and Cliff Mulcahy of Rosie’s Bar and Grill; Karen Caroll and Julie Slater of Chic Optique; Drew Miller and Kevin Murdoch of the GLBX; Marc Silverstone of Equilibrium Events and “A Toy’s Story;” attorney and publisher Norm Kent; the Leather Men’s Brotherhood; and Hotspots Media Group.

The gift to Broward House must still be approved by the Broward County Commission. Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti does not think that County Commissioners’ approval will be a problem.

Broward House, a 23-year old organization that serves more than 6,000 people who are living with HIV/AIDS, said they hope to have the help line operating by mid-January.

By Cliff Dunn

On Friday, December 30, the Gamma Mu Foundation kicks off three days of New Year’s events in Wilton Manors and Fort Lauderdale. Called HEAT 12, the weekend is the non-profit organization’s major yearly fundraising effort.

The weekend events are open to both Foundation members and those who want to contribute financially to the organization’s ongoing philanthropic efforts. As described in the Gammu Mu Foundation’s Mission Statement, these efforts are aimed at establishing “… a perpetual, philanthropic fund to provide financial assistance for the health, enhancement, and pride of our community.”

The Gamma Mu Foundation was organized to endow financial grants to organizations and individuals, mostly in rural America, to make direct assistance available to people with HIV/AIDS. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, tax-exempt organization under the rules of the IRS Code.

Its genesis as a charitable institution began in 1989, when members of the private Gamma Mu Fraternity established the separate Gamma Mu Foundation to support many of the unmet needs of the gay community on a nationwide, ongoing basis. Initially, the projects of the Foundation were funded by the original Board of Directors, but from its inception, the group’s intention has been to build that seed-support through the contributions of its members, as well as their friends and associates, and those who are looking to aid in the group’s ongoing efforts.

Says Foundation board member John Ellis II, “Once I joined the social side of Gamma Mu, I realized how the ongoing work the Foundation blended with my desire to work within our community to help the Foundation grow.”

Like other board and Foundation members, Ellis recalls his skills as a successful businessman dovetailed well with the non-profit’s needs for experts to take part in the way the funding for the Grants and Scholarships is utilized.

The Foundation bestows its largesse in a number of ways. According to the non-profit’s Web site, these include awarding grants to 501(c)(3)’s working in America’s rural HIV/AIDS environment, providing graduate-level scholarships to college and university students whose degree programs have a positive influence on LGBT-acceptance in the community-at-large, conducting fundraising events across the U.S. (such as next weekend’s HEAT 12 in Greater Fort Lauderdale) -  and providing both the means and know-how to establish outright, annual, and memorial gifts, and planned giving through wills, charitable trusts, and life insurance assignments.

Those benefiting from Foundation programs include persons with HIV/AIDS (PWA’s) and their families. Starting in 1999, the Foundation expanded its policies to include grants for programs other than HIV/AIDS. These include the awarding of undergraduate and advance degree scholarships to gay men as well as grants to organizations meeting special needs within LGBT groups that include youths, seniors, and victims of domestic violence.

The Foundation also provides funding through research and public education grants with the goal of making the world a better place for everyone, without regard to a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

In all cases, the Foundation looks to make grants to organizations located in rural areas where the need is great and the resources are often very limited. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $1,500,000 to more than 100 organizations: over 90% of these awards have been in rural areas.

Says board member Ellis, “To my knowledge we are among very few organizations giving grants to rural HIV/AIDS support groups in this manner.”

Grants and scholarships are bestowed annually by the Foundation based upon a formal application and approval process. Only organizations and individuals in the United States are eligible for Gamma Mu Foundation financial assistance. All groups qualifying for Gamma Mu Foundation assistance must currently qualify as 501(c)3 charitable organizations as defined by the IRS. With the exception of scholarships, Gamma Mu Foundation does not make financial assistance grants to individuals.

Even at a time when Americans routinely contribute 2% of our annual gross domestic product to charitable and non-profit organizations – in excess of $175 billion annually – there is always a need for the assistance of other benefactors to support the Foundation’s goals.

“Our requests for grants far exceed the funds available on a yearly basis,” Ellis notes. “The scholarship requests also way outnumber the available funds. The grants and scholarships we do fund are well deserving and very effective in their communities.”

Ellis says that the grant and scholarship requests are read by a large group of volunteers, who use a one-to-ten scale to score each individual application, based upon a range of criteria. At the conclusion of that process, the results are compiled and winners selected at the Foundation’s annual meeting.

“Those of us who are ‘readers’ feel that the process is awakening,” emphasizes Ellis. “At the conclusion, we really have a sense of contributing to the community and a certain understanding of how much need there is for what we do.”
Ellis and his fellow “readers” say that the scholarship review process can be especially emotional times. The scholarship requests from individual students background information such as school records, but also there are also stories about the personal experiences of the applicants, which include in numerous instances tales of bullying and family rejection.

Notes Ellis: “We focus on selecting the students who are scholastically able to succeed, but there is no question that when you read stories about kids who have been thrown out on the street by their parents, or their church, or have been bullied at school because of their lifestyle, it is difficult not to be extremely touched.”

New Year’s weekend promises to be an entertaining time for the Florida members of the Foundation, who are hosting their fellows from across the country.

The kick-off event on December 30, “Manor Sizzle,” is a three-hour post-work-week casual mixer at The Manor Restaurant and Nightclub Complex in Wilton Manors, hosted by entertainer Joe Posa as “Joan Rivers,” followed on Saturday night with their New Year’s Eve 16th Annual Tropics Ball and Casino Royale fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, and Sunday’s “Wake Up Bloodies-Plus” Brunch at the W Hotel in Fort Lauderdale.

Reflecting upon the work of the Gamma Mu Foundation, and its founder, Cliff Pettit, Ellis says that in addition to a sense of accomplishment, his membership in the organization has paid dividends of a different nature.

“When I joined Gamma Mu I, had just retired from a corporate position, and found myself with a lot of time available,” recalls Ellis.

“The first benefit was being able to meet new people and develop new friendships, many outside of Florida. Being active in the Foundation has increased that number of friends manifold, and I have been able to work on and build upon something I truly believe in.”

For more information about the Gamma Mu Foundation and HEAT 12,  visit  www.gammamufoundation.org.

How many friends have I lost to AIDS

?  How many ACT-UP protests have included my voice?  How many safer sex discussions have I participated in?  How many counseling sessions, self-help seminars and 12-step meetings have I attended?  How many times have I, as a columnist, radio personality and television host shared the wisdom garnered from such experiences with those who would read, listen or watch?  And most importantly, how many friends have I lost to AIDS?

The answer to each of these questions is “Countless!,” but clearly not enough to prevent me, in a collision of passion, depression, denial and poor judgment, from contracting HIV in August of 2007.  In many interviews since I have stated, “I became HIV positive decades into the AIDS epidemic, completely armed with the knowledge to protect myself.  It’s still a bit shocking to me.”

Three years after exposure I began taking antiretroviral medications.  My side-effects are vivid dreams and a spike in my cholesterol which may be treated soon with additional medication.  As far as HIV is concerned, I have had no other noticeable health consequences with the exception of the terrible, lasting, flu-like illness that occurred weeks after my exposure, one that left me sitting face to face with an infectious disease specialist in a Bangkok hospital who said, “Your symptoms could be the result of recent acute HIV infection.”  What?!?!

I played dumb.  I did not share that I had recently had unprotected sex.  I left with a scheduled follow-up appointment I never showed up for.  About five months later, on January 3rd, 2008, I confirmed my HIV status at an anonymous testing site, a New Year’s resolution of sorts.  I still could not believe this had happened to me.  In the coming months, I wanted to die, and unlike previous depressions (periodic because of life circumstances, nothing chronic), I actually looked up on the internet painless means of suicide.

I had to ask myself the question most likely going through your head right now.  Why, knowing what I know with the life experience that I have, would I consciously (and while sober, eight years-plus at that point, thank you) participate in unsafe sex?  I have come up with these answers:  1) I was with someone who said and believed he was HIV negative; 2) I was depressed; 3) I did not know (or had conveniently suppressed) how high the incidence of HIV was in the city in which I was residing; and 4) I had a false sense of security because I had remained negative so far into the epidemic.  NONE of these reasons are good reasons, but they are human reasons.

Before I could go public about my status to hopefully prevent others from following in my footsteps, I needed to tell my mom, step-dad, family and close friends.  On October 1st, 2008, I came out to my mother as being HIV positive.  She was very loving in her response.   Here is a journal entry from that day:

“Wow.  I had done it!  The most important part of my journey was over.  I had told my mother, and in telling her, I realized that she is the most important person in my world, the person I love the absolute most, and I am so grateful, and on the verge of tears as I write this, that she is my mother.  She has done the best she could and she didn’t’ do all that bad.”

On March 17th, 2009—the morning after a spectacular conversation with my mom and step-dad on the occasion of their 32nd wedding anniversary—as the result of an error during an outpatient laboratory test, seemingly almost as suddenly as I am telling you, my mother died.

For about two years, from April 2008 to April 2010, I kept a journal that I will be turning into a book, entitled Life Positive—A Journey from the Center of my Heart.  A bit part of this story is the creation of The Power To Be Strong HIV Testing/Safer Sex Song & Music Video Campaign, and I invite you to download MP3 for free at www.SnowbizNow.com.

What can one say?  I endeavor to rise above pride and ego.  HIV empowered me to do this with my mother.  I will cherish her memory forever, and dedicate each day of my life to more healing.­­­­

Follow Nicholas Snow online at  www.Facebook.com/SnowbizNow, www.Twitter.com/SnowbizNow, and at www.SnowbizNow.com. Follow “The Power To Be Strong” HIV Testing / Safer Sex Awareness Campaign at www.Facebook.com/PowerToBeStrong.

By BOB KECSKEMETY

Dab Garner, if he didn’t already hold a place in the medical history books, would hold a place in history for the good he does for others.

Now in its 22nd year, Garner is bringing cheer to children suffering with HIV/AIDS during this holiday season through his “Dab the AIDS Bear” project.

In 1982, Garner became friends and godfather to a little girl affected with AIDS. In fact, she was the first little girl born in San Francisco with HIV. The child was an orphan and her mother died shortly after,  then Candice, the little girl, was born. The mother did not know who the father was. To make matters worse, Candice was also born deformed.

Garner himself was diagnosed with HIV earlier in that year on Valentine’s Day and immediately became an activist. He went to the hospital where Candice was being taken care of and noticed how Candice was being cared for in the pediatric AIDS unit.

“It struck me how horrible it was that even the nurses in the ward would not pay attention to this little girl. As you can imagine in the ‘80s, nobody wanted a child with HIV much less a deformed one so my second partner and I became her godparents. Back then, as a gay couple, we couldn’t legally adopt her.”

Garner and his partner shopped all year for Christmas presents for Candice as Christmas was Candice’s favorite holiday.

Candice died when she was 4-1/2 years old in August. At her bedside, Garner promised the dying child that he would make other children like her feel loved and special.

Garner remembered that at the time, there were about a dozen other children with HIV in the San Francisco Bay area, so he and his partner divided up the toys he had already bought Candice and gave those to the other children. He also gave each and every one of them a teddy bear.

This gesture of kindness and caring for others started an organization that has grown exponentially. Garner explained that he started looking for other kids afflicted with HIV and every two years would add another city and added more children to his Christmas list – first Los Angeles; then New York. Twenty-two years later, Garner reaches out to 21 cities, both in the United States and abroad with his special brand of caring and love.

“Candice is the whole reason I do this,” Garner explained, “I’m keeping the promise I made to a dying little girl.”

How is Garner’s health having been diagnosed with GRID (what AIDS was referred to back then) in 1982? Garner is doing fine. He said that according to the National Institute of Health, he’s the third longest living survivor they know of still living with HIV/AIDS. He was also the first person in San Francisco to make it out of hospital quarantine alive.

“Back then,” Garner explained, “there were no privacy laws to keep [AIDS patients’ names] out of the newspapers or anyone from disclosing my HIV status so my name, picture and status were published in the newspaper. I never really had a choice whether I was going to be out concerning my HIV status – it just was. I was raised by parents that taught me to make the best of my situation and to help those less fortunate than myself.”

Garner said that back in 1985, then-President Ronald Regan wouldn’t even mention HIV or AIDS.

“In 1985,” he said, “several of us chained ourselves to the White House to get President Reagan just to say ‘HIV.’” He also explained that he was fortunate enough to work with Elizabeth Taylor and Senator Ted Kennedy to get Ryan White funding started.

Garner moved to South Florida just over a year and a half ago. “I moved down here because South Florida has the highest incidence of new HIV infections in the country,” he said.

Garner also works with the Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach County health departments to help with their HIV prevention programs.

“For the most part, it’s been very, very positive,” said Garner when asked how his AIDS Bear project has been accepted.

“I travel the world to about 120 to 150 events a year, speaking at AIDS walks, AIDS rides, HIV conferences , gay prides, women health fairs – just about to anyone who will put me behind a podium to help prevent the spread of HIV while helping those that are already infected.”

When Garner speaks, he tells people to get tested on a regular basis, not only for HIV but for other STDs. He explains that there are now medications to keep people alive. But he warns that it is important to be diagnosed while a person is still healthy because not only does it give you a better chance of living with HIV, but it also allow you to start medication while your T-cell count is higher, the lessening the side effects.

“The other major point I like to make,” said Garner, “is that in Florida and 13 other states, we have a waiting list to get assistance through ADAP (AIDS Drugs Assistance Program). I go to DC once a month and lobby for more funding because we have a waiting list of over 3,000 people in Florida and a total of 9,000 throughout the country. People can help just by picking up the phone or sending an email by contacting the elected officials.”

For more information about Dab Garner and the Dab the AIDS?Bear Project, please visit the website at www.dabtheaidsbearproject.com.