Today, “Giving Tuesday”, we have an opportunity to give to the mission of The United Methodist Church – and to have our gifts matched and doubled! In keeping with World AIDS day (Dec 1) and Robin’s recent mission in Ghana, I offer the UMC Global AIDS fund, with a goal of $270,000 in yearly giving.
From the project website: In 2001, there were an estimated total of 28.6 million adults and children living with HIV throughout the world. In 2010, the global estimate rose to 34 million. Yet, the annual number of new HIV infections has been on a steady decline with 3.1 million new cases in 2001 and 2.6 million new cases in 2009. Many factors have contributed to the decline in new infections. These changes include increased education and awareness; behavior change promotion; increases in the number of people being tested; interventions that promote prevention of HIV from mother to child; increased access to treatments; and the development of more programs and resources that take an integrated holistic approach to addressing the needs of impacted by or living with HIV/AIDS. The UMGAF has funded work in all of these areas. By the end of 2011, the 229 projects in 37 countries had received funding. Many of the projects have focused on orphans and vulnerable children, the poor, widows, people living with HIV/AIDS, community-based health workers, and populations considered high risk for exposure to HIV/AIDS.
