dougs digs

APRIL 25 - MAY 1

We have lost confidence in what we are seeing, hearing and reading: too much infotainment and not enough news; too many outlets telling the same stories; too much commercialism and too much hype. Every day, this commercial information system distorts our view of the world.

We have lost faith in the institutions of the mass media. A handful of corporations now control more than half the information networks around the world. At a time when people worldwide face hunger, social disruption, war and ecological collapse, only those who know how to walk the walk, talk the talk or pay big bucks are getting their message across.

We imagine a different system – a media democracy. We see great promise in the open communications of the internet and want that openness expanded into every form of media. We envision a global system of communications that has as its foundation the direct, democratic participation of citizens. To this end, we demand the timely transfer of key media sources back to the people.

TV Turnoff Week is no ordinary social ritual. The goal is simple: to shake up routines and get people questioning the role of TV in their lives. Sure, it’s a statement against dead-end couch culture. But it's also about cleaning up the mental environment. Like our oceans and air, our shared mindscape is littered with pollutants -- distorted news, manipulative ads, violence and top-down culture.

Turn it off . . . I dare you.

As an AIDS fundraising organization we find ourselves in a challenging period. Our local AIDS organizations remain in need of financial support more than ever. Recent cuts in AIDS funding by Kansas City and Jackson County governments have dramatically affected the agencies' budgets. These unwelcome cuts come at a time when ever-increasing demands for services are on the rise and HIV infections among our youth and minorities continue to grow at alarming rates. Today there are more than 4,500 people living with HIV/AIDS in the Kansas City area and of that number more than 700 are young people between the ages of 12 and 24.

The Mission of the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City is to assist in funding organizations which provide food, shelter, medical care, and other services to the diverse communities dealing with HIV/AIDS, and to promote public education about HIV infections.

In 1992 leaders from the four primary AIDS service organizations in Kansas City, Good Samaritan Project, SAVE, Inc., HARCMart and the Kansas City Free Health Clinic met to discuss a cooperative effort at fundraising in the community. Recognizing that there was much duplication of effort in the fundraising area due to appealing for funds from the same donor population, the organizations' separate efforts are losing effectiveness.

With vision these leaders put aside organizational agendas and formed the AIDS Service Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Each founding organization pledged and paid $5,000 to initially fund the foundation. Each organization placed two representatives on the board to serve with a diverse cross section of additional individuals from the Kansas City Community.

The AIDS SERVICE Foundation's charge is to be a primary leader to raise funds to fight the AIDS epidemic in Kansas City and to distribute said funds to the four primary AIDS service organizations and, through the Community Fund, to agencies meeting proposal criteria. When you are raising money and awareness for AIDS WALK Kansas City you are helping many organizations in our hometown that would not have otherwise received additional funding for their HIV/AIDS programming. The Foundation raises money for the Community Fund through the World AIDS Day Dinner and AIDS WALK.