December 1 is World AIDS Day. This is a time to remember those we have lost to AIDS.

Quilt Project Gold Coast (QPGC) has many events lined up. First up, many thanks to Ruby Diamond and Paddy McDermott’s for hosting at 4pm on Nov. 16 Drag Queen Bingo to benefit The Quilt Project!

Join hostess Michelle Chackra for fun and games, and win fabulous prizes. Get there around 2:30-3:00 for the best seats.

On Nov. 18 at 9am the Ventura County Board of Supervisors will honor QPGC with a World AIDS Day proclamation. That same afternoon we will be at Cal Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks for their World AIDS Day observance. We will host a Quilting bee with honors students in the afternoon, and will take part in their evening program and candlelight vigil.

On Nov. 30 we will be speaking and showing Quilts at All Saints Church in Oxnard for their Sunday services. On Dec. 7 we will be at UU Church of Santa Paula for their World AIDS Day observance.

Our annual Dec. 1 World AIDS Day event will again be on the steps of Ventura City Hall, with a Quilt display from 2:30-5:30pm along Poli Street, and our always moving candlelight vigil from 5:30-6:30pm with music from I’ve Seen Better Elephants and clergy led by Bp. Manny Edgar-Beltran providing the invocation. Join us Dec. 9 at Ventura City Hall for the presentation of the City of Ventura’s World AIDS Day proclamation.

During the weeks before and after World AIDS Day, QPGC will run a PSA on social media making Gold Coast residents aware that HIV/AIDS is still in our community. Our October AIDS Awareness Month PSA was viewed by over 31,000 at-risk people in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and is our most-shared video.

Quilt Project Gold Coast wishes everyone a very happy holiday season.

Keith Coffman-Grey, President