BEAT AIDS has confirmed that Mrs. Jeanne White-Ginder, mother of Ryan White, will be a Key Note Speaker at the annual BEAT AIDS banquet on October 2, 2009.
San Antonio, Texas – July 27, 2009 — Michele Durham, Executive Director, announces that Mrs. White-Ginder will be Host Speaker at this year’s 2009 Annual Banquet. Ms. Durham further stated “We are so excited to have a nationally recognized speaker at our Banquet — and one who has been so touched by the HIV/AIDS crisis. HIV infects men and women, gay, straight and bisexual, Black, Latino, White – anyone can get HIV. With the current increase in new cases among women of color and young men, it’s time for everyone – even in communities that may never have thought of HIV as “our problem” before – to join the fight against HIV and AIDS. Mrs. White-Ginder has learned this first-hand.”
Ms. White-Ginder is the mother of Ryan White, nationally recognized as a “poster child” for the HIV crisis after receiving the virus from a blood transfusion in the 1980’s. Even though doctors said Ryan could not infect other students, AIDS was poorly understood in the mid 1980’s, and when White tried to return to school after being expelled due to his HIV infection, many parents and teachers fought against his attendance.
A legal battle with the school system and national coverage of the struggle made White a nationally recognized spokesman for AIDS education. He appeared frequently in the media with celebrities including Elton John and Michael Jackson. After a long battle with the disease Ryan White died on April 1, 1990, just before his high school graduation. His mother named a foundation in his name and now continues to educate on HIV/AIDS in the United States.
Ms. White-Ginder will visit San Antonio to bring her message of education. Quoted recently in the New York Times, Ms. White-Ginder stated “This disease brings no glory to anyone,” she says. “Only pain and sadness and worry. Ryan always said if you don’t know about something you will be scared. At least educate yourself. So that’s what I do. Not from a medical standpoint but a human standpoint. Because the best way to learn about AIDS is from human experience, not statistics.”
The BEAT AIDS Annual Banquet will be held on Friday, October 2, 2009 at the Airport Hilton Hotel. For additional information, questions, or tickets, please call (210) 212-2266.
About BEAT AIDS Coalition Trust: BEAT AIDS Coalition Trust was founded in 1986 and is a long-recognized provider of HIV/AIDS community caring services in San Antonio and South Texas. Their mission and promise are the same: “BEAT AIDS will stand with this community, serving one person at a time, one family at a time…until there’s a cure.”
Media Contact:
Michele Durham, Executive Director
I dont know much about the many stories each ANGEL that passes through AIDS/HIV but it is true personal experience brings you to a true view of what they go through. The mother of Ryan is truely making a great thing in shedding light to many blind eyes / minds. I am a sister or a beautiful person that recently past(German Luna) and I learned that the person I call my brother was more than that. In my eyes he is my ANGEL in disguise. *Treasure Gods gifts come what may* ALuna
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