by stacey palevsky
staff writer
The director of the Contra Costa JCC wanted to figure out a way to participate in the AIDS/LifeCycle bike ride without feeling guilty for taking off a week from work.
So Jamie Hyams asked herself: While pedaling for HIV/AIDS research, could she at the same time raise money for the JCC?
To take part in the event, individual riders have to raise $2,500 each for HIV/AIDS-related research, Hyams noted.
“So I thought, if I could form a team and find someone to match every dollar raised, that would raise enough money for me to take a week off from work,” Hyams said.
And so Team JCC was born.
The 12 members will ride 545 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles from June 1 to 7. They will be among 2,500 people representing 42 states and 10 countries. Cyclists are expected to raise more than $11 million for HIV/AIDS-related services of the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
So far, Team JCC has collected $35,000 in pledges for the AIDS/LifeCycle cause — and $33,000 for the JCC.
Hyams, who believes no other squad is simultaneously raising money for HIV/AIDS and another organization via matching funds, said her goal is to raise at least $50,000 for the JCC.
Hyams launched the matching-funds initiative after she talked “to people who care about the JCC, who like crazy ideas and out-of-the-box fundraising, and are willing to try something new and different,” she said.
Some matching funds have come from the team’s corporate sponsors, Club One Fitness Centers and Cyclepath Bicycles. Most of the pledges, though, have come from individual donors pledging $50 to $10,000.
Hyams also secured three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond — who in 1986 became the first American to win that event — as the honorary chairman of the team. (Hyams’ cousin is LeMond’s attorney.)
At the CCJCC’s Gala ’08 fundraiser at the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco on May 10, they’ll auction off a racing bike signed by LeMond and a private dinner for eight with the cycling champ.
Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco has a team, as well, and its 18 members have so far raised about $57,000, all of it for AIDS/LifeCycle. Riders have been training together and will gather Sunday, April 27 to mark the end of Passover with a Mimouna, a traditional Moroccan seder.
Jeff Roseman, a member of the Contra Costa JCC, said Team JCC provided extra motivation to register for the ride.
“Doing this ride provides you with a great sense of community,” he said. “I take it as a challenge to test myself physically, while raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. I think it’s important to try and eradicate this before it gets worse.”
In San Francisco, an estimated 19,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS. That number jumps to 150,000 in all of California. In the United States, 1.2 million people have HIV/AIDS.
Globally, 12,000 people contract HIV every day. An estimated 39.5 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide; more than 2 million of them are under the age of 15.
Team JCC is doing “a double mitzvah,” Hyams said. “We’re making our community and the world a better place. [Raising matching funds] is a great model for charities — they can support the health and fitness of participants, while at the same time raising money for their charity.”
To sign up for the May 10 Gala ’08 dinner, contact Carrie at the Contra Costa JCC at (925) 938-7800. For information on the AIDS/LifeCycle bike ride, go to www.aidslifecycle.org
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California