AIDS/LifeCycle Fundraiser to End After 2025 Event
LOS ANGELES AND SAN FRANCISCO, September 11, 2024–San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) and the Los Angeles LGBT Center (the Center) will conclude their co-sponsored fundraising event, AIDS/LifeCycle, with a final ride in June 2025. The final event will celebrate the Ride’s more than 30 years of history, and the more than $300 million that event participants have raised for the HIV services of SFAF and the Center.
“AIDS/LifeCycle has existed as a beacon of strength and hope for people living with HIV and LGBTQ+ communities for more than 30 years,” said Tyler TerMeer, PhD, CEO of San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “As a person living with HIV, participating in this event for 16 years has been life-changing in the best ways–as it has for so many other past and present participants. We have built an incredible community, and supported so much more than an annual bicycle ride–we have made an impact on the HIV epidemic. The work of SFAF and the Center remains as important as ever, and we look forward to working with the AIDS/LifeCycle community to find meaningful ways to continue the Ride’s legacy.”
“We are incredibly proud of the impact the Ride has had on our local communities and the HIV epidemic nationally,” said Los Angeles LGBT Center CEO Joe Hollendoner. “Funds from this event helped change the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic. No longer is HIV the death sentence it was when the ride began thanks to the advancement in treatments, and new cases of HIV are declining thanks to interventions like PrEP. With every mile ridden and every dollar raised, the AIDS/LifeCycle community has brought us closer to the end of AIDS. I could not be more grateful to the AIDS/LifeCycle community for all they have done for the clients served by the Center and SFAF.”
As announced in an AIDS/LifeCycle Town Hall on September 11, continuing AIDS/LifeCycle is financially unsustainable. In the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, production costs for the 7-day event have skyrocketed, while fundraising has been on the decline.
Although AIDS/LifeCycle will end in 2025, SFAF and the Center remain committed to ending the HIV epidemic. Much more work is needed to declare victory over a virus that has claimed more than 40 million lives globally. Yearly, more than 30,000 people are diagnosed with HIV across the U.S., with a disproportionate number of Black, Latine, men who have sex with men, and transgender individuals affected. Approximately 1.2 million people nationwide are living with HIV, and with more than 50% of the population over the age of 50, increasingly specialized medical care and support are needed.
AIDS/LifeCycle 2025 will be held as planned, and event organizers are focused on ensuring this last event honors the long history and incredible impact of AIDS/LifeCycle. Registration is open and limited to 2,500 cyclists “Riders” and 600 volunteer “Roadies” with a goal of exceeding the set record of $17.8 million.
About AIDS/LifeCycle
AIDS/LifeCycle is a fully-supported, seven-day bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It’s a life-changing ride— not a race—through some of California’s most beautiful countryside. AIDS/LifeCycle is co-produced by the Los Angeles LGBT Center and San Francisco AIDS Foundation and is designed to advance their shared interest to reduce new HIV transmissions and improve the quality of life for people living with HIV.
About the Los Angeles LGBT Center
Since 1969 the Los Angeles LGBT Center has cared for, championed, and celebrated LGBT individuals and families in Los Angeles and beyond. Today the Center’s nearly 800 employees provide services for more LGBT people than any other organization in the world, offering programs, services, and global advocacy that span four broad categories: Health, Social Services and Housing, Culture and Education, Leadership and Advocacy. We are an unstoppable force in the fight against bigotry and the struggle to build a better world; a world in which LGBT people thrive as healthy, equal, and complete members of society. Learn more at lalgbtcenter.org.
About San Francisco AIDS Foundation
San Francisco AIDS Foundation promotes health, wellness, and social justice for communities most impacted by HIV, through sexual health and substance use services, advocacy, and community partnerships. Ultimately, we strive for a day when: race is not a barrier to health and wellness; substance use is not stigmatized; HIV status does not determine quality of life; and HIV transmission is eliminated. Learn more at sfaf.org.
