MARTY MARKS WORLD AIDS DAY

BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL TO TURN (RED)™ IN HONOR OF WORLD AIDS DAY

DECEMBER 1 at 5:00 p.m.

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Teens from Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service join Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Malaak-Compton Rock, Christy Turlington Burns, Gabrielle Union, (RED), and City Officials for a Pre-Lighting Program

Brooklyn Borough Hall will be illuminated (RED) to mark World AIDS Day on Wednesday, December 1, 2010 at 5:00 p.m. to raise awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Brooklyn and sub-Saharan Africa.  Joining Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz at Borough Hall will be Malaak Compton-Rock, founder and director of Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service; formal supermodel, maternal health advocate and founder of Every Mother Counts, Christy Turlington Burns; actress and activist Gabrielle Union; teens from Journey for Change; a representative from (RED); and New York City officials.

Brooklyn Borough Hall is one of more than 80 distinctive landmarks around the world turning the color red on World AIDS Day.  The lightings will highlight the attainable goal of ending mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015, creating the first generation of babies born HIV-free in 30 years.  Despite the fact that HIV/AIDS is preventable and treatable, UNAIDS statistics published last week estimate 370,000 children are infected with the disease, down from 430,000 in 2008. About 90% of these babies are born in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Borough Hall landmark lighting ceremony will raise awareness of the fact that in 2008, Brooklyn had the highest number of HIV diagnoses in New York City.  The Journey for Change youth will bring special attention to the statistic that 7.1% of the nation's children under 13 with HIV/AIDS live in Brooklyn. 

Journey for Change is a global service program for at-risk youth from Brooklyn, New York.  This past summer, Malaak led a group of 30 teens to South Africa for two weeks to volunteer with orphaned and vulnerable children with a focus on HIV/AIDS.  The group also had the opportunity to see (RED)'s work in person at the Nike Training Center in Soweto, and as part of their preparation for the trip watched (RED)'s documentary The Lazarus Effect.

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), please visit www.joinred.com .

Journey for Change strives to uplift the lives of inner-city youth through travel, service, and advocacy initiatives.  Beginning with a volunteer mission to South Africa, the comprehensive multi-year program seeks to create global leaders engaged in civic, political, and social change in their own communities and globally.  For more information, please visit www.angelrockproject.com .

WHAT:          Brooklyn Borough Hall Illuminated (RED) for World AIDS Day

WHO:             Malaak Compton-Rock, Christy Turlington Burns, Gabrielle Union, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, (RED), City Officials, Teens from Journey for Change

WHEN:          Wednesday, December 1, 2010

4:00 p.m. Press Check-in

5:00 p.m. Program Begins

 

WHERE:       Brooklyn Borough Hall

209 Joralemon Street (between Court and Adams Streets)

Brooklyn, NY  11209