The AIDS Foundation has begun to allocate the $22,000 worth of funds raised during last year's Queen of the Whole Universe drag pageant. NZAF Executive Director Rachael Le Mesurier says $4000 each has already been allocated to Body Positive, toward the costs of the recently-held HIV positive men's retreat in Auckland; to Positive Women, to help fund an HIV-positive women's retreat coming up later this year; and to Body Positive Canterbury, toward the cost of a proposed weekend gathering for HIV positive gay men in the South Island. Le Mesurier says fundraising is crucial to the work of the New Zealand AIDS Foundation and she expressed her thanks to Queen of the Whole Universeä organiser Jonathan Smith and his team of volunteers, supporters and competitors. "While the Foundation's basic work is funded through Government health contracts, much of the supportive work we do for our communities is entirely dependent on our success, as a charity, to raise extra dollars. "The weekend gatherings for people with HIV are a good example. They do much to help build peer support for people living with the virus, end isolation and stigma, and boost people's knowledge and understanding of the virus and the developments coming through in the way of treatment, support and care."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Friday, 17th February 2006 - 12:00pm