Supporters of the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation hope to strike back at HIV and AIDS with Bowling for Tommy on Saturday.
Now in its sixth year, the fundraiser is in memory of Tommy Gin, a native Tucsonan and long-time foundation board member who died in January 2010.
Gin, who graduated from Tucson High School and attended the University of Arizona, was a sports enthusiast and avid UA supporter. Also a devoted community volunteer, his friends and family felt that a fun, family-oriented bowling tournament would be a fitting reminder to how he approached life, said Ethan Cox, director of development for the foundation.
“He was enthusiastic and loved the SAAF mission. He was the type of guy that if something made him feel good, he wanted to help out with it. We are lucky to be one of those organizations that made him feel good and made him want to contribute his time and effort,” Cox said.
The foundation, which is celebrating 30 years of providing services to the community this year, has a multi-pronged mission: it provides direct services and programs in safe, supportive environments to enhance the quality of life for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS; it offers education and awareness to help people avoid contracting HIV; and it empowers people to lead healthy, productive lives.
Almost 1,300 clients and immediate family members receive services annually.
Care services are comprised of clinical services, support services and housing services. Care services also include case management, peer counseling, a range of support including medication assistance, free therapies (massage, acupuncture and more), and transportation assistance and other personal support.
In addition, programs such as Food for Life deliver three meals a day to homebound clients who may have difficulty preparing meals on their own.
Cox said the foundation takes a holistic approach to caring for those living with HIV in order to help them maintain independence and optimize quality of life.
“We can make sure someone knows their status and gets their medications, but if they don’t have a roof overhead or a way to get three square meals a day, the likelihood of them taking their medications decreases dramatically and their HIV goes unchecked.
“If we care for the person completely, the likelihood of the HIV getting out of control or spreading to others is greatly reduced,” he said.
Ensuring that everyone knows his or her HIV status by providing free testing is a cornerstone of the SAAF mission.
Educating the community — particularly youth — and promoting awareness about HIV transmission was a goal that was near and dear to Gin’s heart, according to Eva Nuñez, his best friend and mother of his children, Jeremy, Justin and Jasmine Jean.
“It was important to Tommy that young people be educated about HIV. It can affect anyone, and I think that straight young kids think this is an affliction that can’t affect them, and it does,” she said. “It was important to him that they realize it isn’t just a ‘gay’ disease. It is something that can affect everyone across the board — gender, race and age don’t matter. It doesn’t matter to this disease who you are.”
