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Jeanne White-Ginder, Mother of Ryan White, to Speak in Chattanooga 12/1 for World AIDS Day

Friday, December 1st is World AIDS Day, a day to reflect on the impact of HIV and AIDS and memorialize those we lost to the virus. This year, an event will take place at the Waterhouse Pavilion in Miller Plaza.

WUTC’s Will Davis spoke to the keynote speaker, Jeanne White-Ginder.

Her son Ryan White was one of the first children with hemophilia to be diagnosed with AIDS back in the early 1980s.

He wanted to keep going to school, in an era when many people didn’t understand the disease or how it was transmitted, and some were afraid to even shake Ryan’s hand or let him sit with them in church. He became famous as someone fighting against the stigma of the disease.

FROM A MEDIA RELEASE:

The first of December is marked each year as World AIDS Day. This day is set aside to reflect on the impact of HIV/AIDS and memorialize those lives we lost to the virus. This year the Southeast Tennessee Council for HIV/AIDS Care and Prevention (CHACP), in collaboration with Channels of Love Ministries, Chattanooga CARES, and the Chattanooga Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated will host a World AIDS Day commemoration on Friday, December 1st from 5:30 pm-7:00 pm at the Waterhouse Pavilion in Miller Plaza.  Jeanne White-Ginder, mother of Ryan White will be the keynote speaker.

In December 1984, Jeanne White-Ginder was told that her son Ryan had contracted AIDS following a blood transfusion. At the age of 13, Ryan and his battle to live a normal life gained national attention and he became the face of public education about the disease. Ryan died in April 1990, just days before his high school graduation. Jeanne White-Ginder continued to be an advocate for those affected and infected by HIV. In 1990, legislation was first enacted as the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act.  Today, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is the largest federal legislation program focused on the treatment and care of people living with HIV.

Heavy hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be offered at 5:30 pm. The ceremony will start at 6:00 pm. The event is free to the public.

Will is producer and editor of Tennessee Valley StoryCorps and Stories From The Big 9 on WUTC.