Guest post by Julie Pepper Lim, Marketing & Communications Coordinator at Meritage Medical Network.
Ribbons—we’ll see a lot of them as the holidays get closer. On and before December 1st, we can pay tribute to World AIDS Day by wearing a red ribbon.
These red ribbons originated in 1991, a decade after the emergence of HIV, when 12 artists gathered together in a gallery in the East Village and created them as symbols of compassion for people living with HIV.
The inspiration came, in part, from the support shown to the U.S. military fighting in the Gulf War, when yellow ribbons were tied to trees. Any color could have been used, but these artists were careful to avoid pink and rainbow because they wanted to communicate the relevance of HIV to everyone.
Each year, we have the chance to raise awareness for people living with HIV and to commemorate the lives of the people we’ve lost. We can support a local event, fundraise for a local organization, or assist in the awareness for the campaign to end AIDS by 2030.
Did you know that World AIDS Day was the first ever Global Health Day? This year is the 30th anniversary and there are lots of ways to get involved. Check them out, here: https://www.worldaidsday.org/about/
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