By Cecilia Nasmith
In honour of World AIDS Day on Wednesday, some dedicated volunteers have made a visible statement - bright red scarves tied around telephone poles around Grafton where they will be seen (on County Road 2, for example, and down Station Road as far as Grafton Public School).
This effort was led by Cathy White. It's the fifth year the Peterborough AIDS Resource Network has coordinated this campaign for Peterborough and surrounding counties and, for the one coordinated through St. Andrew's United Church in Grafton, this is their best response ever – White counted more than 70 red scarves knitted, crocheted and just plain donated.
“It's a way of recognizing World AIDS Day – and this is World AIDS Week. It raises awareness to recognize AIDS is still around,” White said, returning from a scarf-tying run with Gail Hoskin, Donna Budgen and Olivia Gibbs.
“It really honours people we have lost and the people who are living with HIV, and to counteract the stigma that is related to AIDS. This is a very stigmatized disease. Oftentimes, those who are affected are marginalized.”
White has been involved in the AIDS movement since its inception. She is a founding member of the AIDS Committee of York Region and a long-time figure in the Peterborough AIDS Resource Network. Over those years, she has seen amazing progress from those early days when AIDS was a death sentence.
“There is treatment which is better and better, but still people have to live with this disease and live with the stigma related to it.”
White is quick to point out that St. Andrew's is an Affirming Congregation, welcoming people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
The laminated card White attached to every scarf includes information on AIDS Awareness Week, Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week and World AIDS Day, along with a troubling statistic – it is estimated that some 1,400 people in Peterborough, Haliburton County, the City of Kawartha Lakes and the County of Northumberland are living with HIV/AIDS.
The card comes in a clear plastic package with red AIDS ribbons she hopes to see taken and used.
If you see a scarf, she said, take a ribbon.
If you see a scarf and you happen to be cold, she added, take a scarf. They will be in place until Friday, and nothing could be sweeter to an AIDS activist than seeing a winter where everyone is showing their support by wearing the scarves that are essentially a larger representation of the iconic red AIDS ribbon.
