Thank You to All Who Made the White Party a Success
We’re coming off a big weekend, when Trillium Health held its 10th annual White Party, the major fundraiser for the year.
The White Party overall has an interesting history. It started as an AID fundraiser in Miami in 1985 and it’s been going ever since. It’s become international, and we’ve had a very successful party here. In fact, Dr. Christopher Cove, who was my resident many years ago at Strong Memorial Hospital and now is a marvelous cardiologist – and a professional photographer – and his wife, Lisa, helped launch the first White Party in Rochester.
This year, more than 700 tickets were sold, and we raised more than $100,000. We use the money to help people with HIV get the health care they need. That’s helping pay for medicine, covering insurance gaps, rental assistance, transportation issues, child care. We even bought a refrigerator once for somebody who didn't have a refrigerator in their apartment.
This party is about the Rochester community and our response to AIDS. We have people who’ve been making a difference for years. People like our drag community, the incomparable Aggy Dune and Ambrosia Salad, who have entertained us since the beginning of the AIDS epidemic.
Don Simonetti and David Carpenter host a pre-party. Provided by Don Simonetti and David Carpenter.
And people like David Carpenter and Don Simonetti, my friends and friends of Trillium, have hosted a pre-party at their house, and then guests go on to the White Party.
We have young people joining us, who know it’s important to be part of the community. See the photo at the end of the video of urban environmentalist, Brendan Ryan, going to the party on his bicycle.
Brendan Ryan rode his bike to the White Party. Provided by Brendan Ryan.
Everybody pulls together to make this happen, to get good results and maybe save some lives in the process.
The White Party in full swing. Provided by Trillium Health
I just want to thank people again for their commitment and passion and interest and participation in helping us finish the job of ending the HIV epidemic. I've said many times, I say again that if you have to do difficult things in health care, Rochester is a good place to do it. This is a real community.
I thank you.