Team Portland preps for AIDS/LifeCycle with over $145,000 raised so far

Stephen La Marca on a previous AIDS/LifeCycle ride.

A team of over 40 Portlanders is doing their part to raise money for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Team Portland will join 3,000 other riders when they take part in the AIDS/LifeCycle event, a seven-day, 545-mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to help support the work of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

So far the team has raised over $145,000 and they are making final preparations to embark on their ride June 5th.

I recently bumped into Team Portland member Stephen La Marca, who’s personally raised over $3,100.

On his fundraising site Stephen says he rides to support people who’ve lost loved ones to HIV/AIDS. “We are in an ongoing battle against a horrible virus and continuously fighting against discrimination based on sexual orientation, race, gender, and HIV status. If we continue to work together we can make a change, and continue to make the world a better place for those we love,” he says.

Stephen adds that funds raised will help create “a world where health justice is a reality for everyone” and will include specific services like: patient counseling, HIV/STD screenings, linking youth experiencing homelessness and people living with HIV to housing, and more.

To help more Portlanders learn about this cause and find more allies, Stephen has organized a bike ride and hangout that will happen this Saturday, May 28th. The ride will meet at Laurelhurst Park and end at Coffee Beer (SE 42nd and Boise), where owners have offered to donate 20% of their sales that evening to the cause.

If you’d like to meet members of Team Portland and learn more about AIDS/LifeCycle, roll over to the ride Saturday. You can help make their ride even more meaningful by donating via their team page here.

Good luck Stephen and Team Portland! And thank you for supporting people in need.