Rock Hall turns red for AIDS awareness Wednesday

CLEVELAND – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will turn red at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday in honor of World AIDS Day.

Cleveland joins more than 30 cities in the United States that will light their most distinctive landmarks in red, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Miami and Seattle.

The lightings, sponsored by the (RED) campaign, are aimed at highlighting the goal of ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015, creating the first generation of babies born HIV-free in 30 years.

The AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland is also uniting with the city of Cleveland, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Care Alliance Health Center, The AIDS Funding Collaborative, AGAPE, The Free Clinic, Ohio AIDS Coalition, and community activists to honor World AIDS Day with a candlelight vigil, march and reception at the Rock Hall Wednesday.

Here is a list of events happening Wednesday:

3 p.m. – 5 p.m.: Resource Fair at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

5 p.m.: Candlelight March step off from Cleveland’s City Hall to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

5:25 p.m.: Candlelight vigil in front of Rock and Hall of Fame and Museum.

5:30 p.m. Lights throughout the city and region will shut down for 1 minute in memory of those who have died from AIDS.

5:31 p.m.: Lights and candles in the community are relit to illuminate awareness in honor of World AIDS Day.

5:45 p.m.: World AIDS Day Program and Reception inside the Rock Hall.

Statistics show that despite the fact that HIV/AIDS is preventable and treatable; an estimated 370,000 children are infected with the disease. About 90 percent of these babies are born in sub-Saharan Africa.

Since its launch in 2006, (RED) partners and events have generated $160 million for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, supporting HIV and AIDS programs in Africa that have reached more than 5 million people with testing, counseling, medication and services.

For more information on (RED), visit www.joinred.com .

For more information on the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland, visit: www.aidstaskforce.org .