BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. — There still is one local organization working to help people living with HIV and AIDS, and it will hold a fundraiser for World AIDS Day.
Fighting AIDS Continuously Together, or FACT, is holding its 35th annual Snow Ball on Sunday to raise money to help people in the Greater Lehigh Valley with HIV and AIDS.
The nonprofit holds the event every year around World AIDS Day, which is on Dec. 1. This year, the Snow Ball will be at Green Pond Country Club in Bethlehem Township.
“The need is still there. There are people that still need assistance."Chris Banko, President of FACT
FACT Secretary David Moyer has been part of the organization since 1992. He said the Snow Ball used to draw a bigger crowd than it has in recent years.
“I think part of that is because the dynamics of the disease have changed," Moyer said. "People are living longer. We're not seeing the same amount of people being infected with HIV.”
FACT President Chris Banko said the event still is important because people still are dying of the disease.
“The need is still there," Banko said. "There are people that still need assistance."
The Snow Ball will have both a silent and a live auction, four drag performances and a DJ.
Tickets are $75 per person, which includes dinner. Friday is the last day to register for the event. To register, call 484-408-2024.
What does FACT do?
FACT is a nonprofit organization that helps people infected by and affected by HIV or AIDS in the Greater Lehigh Valley.
Many of the funds go to the HIV programs in Lehigh Valley Hospital and St. Luke's University Hospital.
“What they do not fund, we pick up the slack of,” Banko said.
“Everything else that we had is gone."FACT Secretary David Moyer
That could be as diverse as housing assistance or quality-of-life items such as car repairs, he said. The organization also funds funeral services for those who die of HIV-related causes.
Since its founding, FACT has raised and distributed more than $3 million. Moyer said the organization now is raising about $9,000 a year, though Banko said he could not confirm or deny that number.
The organization started in 1986 after local gay bars Candida’s and the Stonewall began to have a prank war, according to a historical retelling by Nan Kozul.
The bars decided to hold a sporting event called the Bar Olympics to settle the prank war. Organizers sold more than 400 tickets and gave the money to people in the Lehigh Valley suffering with AIDS.
They decided to continue holding the Bar Olympics, then formed FACT from that event.
At that time, there were several other local organizations dedicated to raising money to help people with HIV or AIDS. But all of them have since shut down except FACT.
“Everything else that we had is gone,” Moyer said.
HIV and AIDS today
AIDS became less of a crisis in the Lehigh Valley after treatments began to emerge in the 1990s.
But Lehigh County still has a high number of cases compared with the rest of Pennsylvania.
In 2021 in Lehigh County, 392 of every 100,000 residents were living with HIV, the third-highest rate in the state, according to AIDSVu, Emory University’s AIDS-tracking website.
In Northampton County, 71 of every 100,000 residents were living with HIV in 2021.
HIV and AIDS still is a major public health issue worldwide, and certain groups are disproportionately affected by it. In 2022, 630,000 people died of HIV-related causes, according to the World Health Organization.
In the United States, Black people account for a higher proportion of new HIV diagnoses than other racial groups, according to the CDC.
“Personally, I've lost over 400 personal friends to this disease. And I made a vow back in the day that I would not give up until we have a cure."FACT Secretary David Moyer
Moyer said that while others in the LGBTQ community have shifted their focus away from AIDS, he will not.
“Personally, I've lost over 400 personal friends to this disease," Moyer said. "And I made a vow back in the day that I would not give up until we have a cure."
The United Nations has set a goal to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.
