2014 Thomas O Cash HIV/AIDS Walk

[aaware72]

If there is anyone in the southern New Hampshire area who may want to get involve with this upcoming walk please check out this link:

http://aidstaskforcenh.org/events/2014-thomas-o-cash-hivaids-walk/

This year my fiancé and I are walking in memory of his partner that he lost 10 years ago.  Here is a link to our team page:

https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamBobbyNee

The 7th annual Thomas O Cash walk will be held to honor a client and volunteer of the Southern New Hampshire HIV/AIDS Task Force and raise money to support the work of the Task Force. There are so many ways that you can take part in this event; by walking or sponsoring a walker or purchasing a sponsorship for your business. Who is Thomas O Cash? Tom was such an integral part of The Southern NH HIV/AIDS Task Force in so many ways: as a client and participant in every function and program offered at the agency, in his role as an HIV/AIDS advocate and public figure, and his constant presence as the agency front desk volunteer receptionist, a role that earned him the Task Force’s Volunteer of the Year award in 2006. Despite his debilitating and often painful illness, Tom had a contagious love of life.“To know him is to love him” could have been written about him. His sense of humor and his childlike innocence endeared him to everyone he met.On September 15, 2007, Tom came out in the pouring rain with his Mom and his sister to participate in The Nashua HIV/AIDS Walk. He was in a wheelchair, soaking wet and very ill, but he refused to miss a single opportunity to be with his Task Force family. He died on November 1, 2007 of AIDS related complications and liver failure.

In 2008, The Nashua HIV/AIDS Walk was renamed the Thomas O. Cash Memorial HIV/AIDS Walk to honor his memory and to celebrate his life and his dedication to the Southern NH HIV/AIDS Task Force. There are so many more things that can be written about Tom, but this quote by Kahlil Gibran, which was read at Tom’s memorial service, best summarizes who he was and why the walk-a-thon bears his name.

“There are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life and their coffers are never empty.”

[aaware72]

The 2014 Thomas O Cash HIV/AIDS Walk in just over a month away.  If your in the New Hampshire area please join us. 

Take a moment to learn about the Task Force and the walk-https://m.youtube.com/watch?sns=fb&v=XgF-1_NSKys

We have several other events happening around the walk this years. 

The first one is a comedy show on 9/5 with Myq Kaplan headlining-https://www.facebook.com/events/1494606220780121/
Tickets-http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/819325

Then we have Bag night: Red Ribbon Edition Hosted by Miss AIDS Awareness-https://www.facebook.com/events/288857254628196/

lastly the evening after the walk we will be having a 2014 Miss AIDS Awareness Pageant-https://www.facebook.com/events/658749690887299/

Also with the help of the New England AIDS Quilt-http://newenglandaidsquilt.org/2014wp/

Thomas O Cash's section of the AIDS Quilt will be on display the day of the walk.  If your in the Southern New Hampshire area there are many way to get involved. 

You can start a team, join a team, or show your support to a team here-https://www.crowdrise.com/ThomasOCashHIVAIDSWalk

A word from Mr New England Leather 2014, Steve Dupont, who is the Honorary Chairperson of this years walk. 

"Upon returning from IML I too had one of those “life changing” experiences. For me, it was coming out publicly about my HIV Status. After living behind the veil of stigma for a decade, I decided that it was time. Time to be the entire man that I am and hopefully give some hope to those that aren’t as fortunate to have the same circumstances that I do in relation to my “Second coming out”. The leather community is the one place that I was never “ashamed” of my status. A safe place that I could be 100% of who and what I am. My hope is that in coming out publicly that I can help foster that same “safe” feeling beyond the leather community. Now, here is the “important” part. I was asked to be the honorary chairman of the Southern NH. HIV/AIDS task force walk not, “despite” my being a leather man but because of it. I see this as a huge step toward mainstream acceptance of our little part of the gay world and an opportunity to publicly show what it means to “never leave a brother behind”. So please, join me in showing your support to this important organization and to prove to them that they made a wise decision by looking outside the box in choosing me as “The face” of this year’s walk."