11.06.2008

Don't forget December 1st is World AIDS day

In observance of World AIDS Day (WAD) 2008, which takes place every year on December 1, Los Angeles-based humanitarian organization, NextAid, is uniting North American dance music communities from coast to coast, including the scenes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Phoenix, Omaha, Denver, Syracuse, New York, Brooklyn, Boston and Detroit, to raise funds and awareness for kids in Africa who have been orphaned due to the AIDS pandemic.

NextAid is coordinating benefits recognizing the 20th annual World AIDS Day during the month of December. Each event will donate a portion of their proceeds to NextAid to raise the minimum goal of $29,000. These funds will be used to complete NextAid’s pilot project, the construction of a home for children orphaned by AIDS in the NextAid/Youth with a Vision Community Center and Children’s Residential Village in Dennilton, South Africa.

To help with the massive promotional efforts for each of the participating clubs in each city, NextAid has partnered with influential organizations such as Wantickets, Flavorpill, Fusicology, The MML, Green Galactic, URB Magazine, and others, which together will get the word out to thousands through their numerous print, broadcast, mobile and online media outlets. For more information on all aspects of the WAD events and NextAid’s work in Africa please visit www.nextaid.org.

NextAid’s World AIDS Day events include:

December 1: Monday Night Social Los Angeles
December 3: Louie Vega’s ROOTS New York City
December 4: Soulive Syracuse
December 5: ONE Phoenix
December 5: Sub Rosa San Francisco
December 6: LOOM Omaha
December 6: Uhuru Afrika Boston
December 6: Radio Skool Detroit
December 12: Loda/OneLove Washington DC
December 13: Afroblu Denver
December 13: BK Mecca/Uhuru Afrika Brooklyn
December 18: Afro Funké Santa Monica
December 20: TOTH – LA Los Angeles
December 21: DEEP Los Angeles
December 27: Ashkenaz Berkeley

NextAid is also in talks with a variety of other promoters in cities such as Charlotte, Chicago, Montreal, and Miami and expects to announce more participants soon. If any club promoters still want to join the effort this year, please email: contactevents@nextaid.org by November 7th.

Members of the dance music industry are responding to an urgent call to action. Every 14 seconds, an African child loses a parent to AIDS, and every day, more than 6,000 young Africans aged 15 - 24 acquire the HIV virus. After more than two decades of AIDS devastating the continent where life began, only 10% of the 15 million AIDS orphans are receiving any kind of public support. The enormity of the AIDS pandemic demands a response from every corner of society. NextAid believes that the best place to focus the collective energy generated on the dance floor, in order to make the greatest impact in the face of the crisis, is on the children.

All proceeds from these events will go toward the funding of one of the children’s homes that are part of NextAid’s pilot project, the building of NextAid’s Youth with a Vision Community Center and Children’s Residential Village in Dennilton, an impoverished and AIDS-affected community in rural South Africa. The center will not only provide much needed shelter and care for 50 children but will also provide for hundreds of other children, teens and adults in the community with afterschool programs and economic enterprise opportunities. Youth With A Vision (YWAV) uses theater and music to teach AIDS awareness and other issues to their peers. NextAid broke ground with green builders and architects in 2005 and has since completed 11 of the 25-structure children’s eco-village, and plans to finish in time for the World Cup in July 2010.

NextAid represents the dance music community’s response to AIDS in Africa. NextAid receives support from a wide range of industry leaders including some of the most internationally recognized names in dance music, such as DJ Dan, Louie Vega, Miguel Migs, OM Records, Scion, and URB Magazine. From mega-events like Miami’s annual Winter Music Conference to small clubs, through benefits and other music-related activities, NextAid channels the positive energy on the dance floor across the globe to children in Africa, thus providing an opportunity for this niche demographic to truly experience that they can make a difference.

Even in these tough financial times, we can all do something to help those less fortunate. In fact, we need to; it feels good! And I just can’t think of a worthier cause than children whose parents have died of AIDS in Africa. NextAid is the right organization for anyone involved in house music to support. They are based in the dance music community and they are actually doing the work on the ground in Africa, so you know your contribution is making a real difference.” ~ Louie Vega

NextAid's mission is to promote community-driven, environmentally, economically and socially empowering responses to the AIDS orphan pandemic. NextAid collaborates with individuals, businesses and nonprofits to produce culturally-rich, awareness-raising projects and events involving music, technology, the arts, public education projects, and volunteer opportunities.

The 1st of December, World AIDS Day, is the day when individuals and organisations from around the world come together to bring attention to the global AIDS epidemic. 2008 marks the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. Whilst we have come a long ways since 1988, there is still much more to be done. The worldwide theme for World AIDS Day 2008 is “Respect and Protect” developed by the World AIDS Campaign (WAC), in order to provide an opportunity for people to get involved and make their voices heard and become part of a global movement. More information can be found at www.worldaidscampaign.org.

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