Poets & the 2007 AIDS Walk

The 2007 AIDS Walk in Atlanta is approaching in five days, and I am excited to be participating because the walk will benefit twelve organizations, which I will list at the end of the entry. In these last few days I am pumping up my fundraising efforts. You can help out and have the chance to win a lovely prize. A number of established poets were generous, thoughtful, and kind to donate autographed books with the comment, "Thanks for supporting the 2007 AIDS Walk," for me to use for fundraising efforts.

How it works:

1. Visit Team Truvy's AIDS Walk page by clicking HERE.

2. Once on the AIDS Walk site, click on "make a donation," which is located above the "AIDS Walk Atlanta Goal Watch" and "My AIDS Walk Donors." )You should see a page with a header reading "2007 AIDS Walk Atlanta;" below it will read "Thanks for giving on behalf of Dustin Brookshire.")

3. Enter the amount you wish to donate. (Remember, all donations are tax deductible.)
Every $5 donation earns you a chance to win an autographed book. A donation $50 earns you 15 chances to win a book by select poets. If you donate $100 you can pick the book you want from the list below!

4. Once you've donated drop a line on the blog or send an email to dustinvbrookshire@gmail.com.

5. The drawing will occur following the AIDS Walk. Poet Montgomery Maxton will create a Youtube video announcing the winners.

THE BOOKS:

Exquisite Politics autographed by Denise Duhamel









Small Gods of Grief autographed by Laure-Anne Bosselaar

the dead alive and busy autographed by Alan Shapiro

Tantalus in Love autographed by Alan Shapiro

Late autographed by Cecilia Woloch

Slow to Burn autographed by Collin Kelley

Sacrifice autographed by Cecilia Woloch

Return of the Prodigals by Kurt Brown

Mille et un sentiments autographed by Denise Duhamel

Saints of Hysteria: A Half-Century of Collaborative American Poetry autographed by Denise Duhamel

Never Before: Poems about First Experiences autographed by Laure-Anne Bosselaar

*Not Pictured* Like All We Love autographed by Kate Evans

(Should be up tomorrow)

Organizations benefited by the AIDS Walk:

AID Atlanta

Absolute Wellness/The BRAC Center

AIDGwinnett, Inc.

AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta

AIDS Survival Project

AIDS Alliance for Faith and Health

Aniz, Inc.

Home But Not Alone

Jerusalem House

Positive Impact

Project Open Hand

SisterLove, Inc.

What to do?

I am too far behind-- no Nelson interview posted yet, have yet to finish organizing the office, need to send out email regarding Atlanta Pride, emails regarding a poetry fundraiser...... the list could continue.

I'm off work because I woke up not feeling well, and if there is one thing I have learned quickly is to listen to my body. A day of rest will have me back at work tomorrow going full force. However, I plan to squeeze in a couple of tasks from my list (if I don't, I might go crazy).

I want to give a huge heartfelt thank you to Montgomery Maxton and Kate Evans. MM is using his blog in a creative way to help with fundraising for my AIDS Walk Team, Team Truvy. (Take a minute to check out his post!) Kate Evans was the first person to donate to Team Truvy. Again, thanks MM and Kate!


Mother's Day-- My mother visited on Saturday, and my gift to her was a meal. We had salad, lemon pepper chicken, rice, veggies, mac&cheese, and baked potatoes. I cook from time to time; however, it typically isn't a meal like this, and I have to admit-- cooking a "big" meal isn't an easy task. I need to buy my mother a big ass thank you card for all those meals she cooked and continues to cook for the family.

When my mother cooks she is always getting up from the table for one reason or another so another else has to; she says it is what mothers do, so I enjoyed that my mother actually sat and relaxed when I asked (and demanded) her too while I did all the work. Her taking it easy made me smile and feel good.

Team Truvy Registered for AIDS Walk 2007

Today, I registered as team captain of Team Truvy for the Atlanta AIDS Walk 2007. If you are able, interested, and do not have a team, please feel free to join Team Truvy-- the more people, the better we can be.

Here's some information about AID Atlanta from their website:
AID Atlanta is a non-profit, community-based AIDS services organization, serving individuals infected and affected by the AIDS epidemic.

The mission of AID Atlanta is to empower HIV positive Georgians to live independent, productive lives, and to deliver world class educational programs that help stop the spread of HIV by reducing at-risk behaviors in targeted populations.

I think we can all agree, that's a cause worthy of fundraising!

Ways to be involved....
To join Team Truvy click here and follow the prompts.
If you want to donate to Team Truvy, click here.
Spread the word via email, Myspace, & blogging about the walk!