Global: Stephen Lewis Foundation challenges Canadians to join the conversation about HIV/AIDs

For Immediate Release –

Canadians Take on A Dare to Remember to Raise Funds for Grassroots Organizations Turning the Tide of AIDS in Africa

The Stephen Lewis Foundation challenges Canadians to join the conversation about HIV/AIDS

Toronto, October 19, 2010 – Beginning today, hundreds of inspired Canadians will take on personal and group challenges to raise funds for community-based organizations turning the tide of AIDS in Africa, as part of the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s A Dare to Remember campaign. Now in its second year, the national campaign extends to World AIDS Day (December 1), engaging communities from coast to coast in a meaningful dialogue about HIV/AIDS.

Canadians are facing their fears, letting their creative juices flow, testing their endurance and mobilizing their communities in support of African women, orphaned and vulnerable children, grandmothers and people living with HIV and AIDS.

Last year, more than one thousand Canadians took on dares like bungee jumping, giving up coffee for a month, growing sideburns, shaving heads and marathons of yoga and comedy to raise close to $1 million.

Canadian grandmothers cooked up a Dare to Dine - more than 240 feasts in communities across the country for the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.

This year, Montreal’s Yasmin Fudakowska-Gow set a Guinness World Record by doing 32 hours of continuous yoga practice raising $3,700 towards her goal of $10,800 by December 1, 2010.

For the second year, Hoax Couture and the Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC) are hosting Dare to Wear Love, a fashion-forward and cause-driven closing night show on Friday, October 22 with Canada’s top designers and celebrity guest models for LG Fashion Week beauty by L’Oréal Paris.

Canada’s hottest sketch-comedy group and internet sensation Picnicface created a humorous step-by-step instructional video to encourage Canadians to choose a dare, set a fundraising goal, register online, and encourage their friends, families and colleagues to sponsor them:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Elb7m9lTheM

“We are encouraging Canadians to take on A Dare to Remember as an act of solidarity with the people on the frontlines of the AIDS pandemic,” says Foundation Chair Stephen Lewis. “While the act of doing a dare serves to inspire people to raise money for the transformative grassroots projects in sub-Saharan Africa, it is also a catalyst for a greater conversation about HIV and AIDS that must happen in order to turn the tide.”

Proceeds from A Dare to Remember will support community-based organizations in 15 sub-Saharan African countries. These grassroots groups are pioneering approaches that are changing the course of the AIDS pandemic. They provide counseling and education about HIV care, prevention and treatment; distribute food, medication and other necessities; reach the sick and vulnerable through home-based health care; help orphans and vulnerable children access education and work through their grief; and support grandmothers caring for their orphaned grandchildren.

For more information about A Dare to Remember or to register a dare, please visit: adaretoremember.com

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For media inquiries, please contact:

Nikki Gentles
Stephen Lewis Foundation
416.533.9292, ext. 222
[email][email protected]

Joe Cressy
Stephen Lewis Foundation
416.533.9292, ext. 262
[email][email protected]

About the Stephen Lewis Foundation
The Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF) supports community-based organizations that are turning the tide of HIV/AIDS in Africa. They provide care to women who are ill and struggling to survive; assist orphans and other AIDS affected children; reach heroic grandmothers who almost single-handedly care for their orphan grandchildren; and sustain associations of people living with HIV and AIDS. Since 2003, SLF has supported more than 300 community-level initiatives in 15 sub-Saharan countries. To learn more, visit www.stephenlewisfoundation.org