Dear Friends of the Dr. Peter Centre,
First, thank you to everyone who supported our World AIDS Day campaign and events. Your contributions make Comfort Care possible for residents of Vancouver living with HIV/AIDS, it's that simple. Your response to our annual 'Reality Check' update and the subsequent media coverage was also very encouraging. We heard you loud and clear that we are on the right track with our community-based response to HIV/AIDS in Vancouver.
You have likely seen the Vancouver Sun's coverage of Tiko Kerr, a British Columbia artist, and his journey with HIV. Tiko is a good friend of the Dr. Peter Centre. He has done two paintings of the Centre, one of which was unveiled on World AIDS Day by sponsor Salman Partners. You will be hearing more over the coming months about the other painting. It is an exciting new opportunity for us.
The Dr. Peter Centre receives great community support. In turn, it also gives back. To this end, I am honored to have been asked to be a board member on GlaxoSmithKline's National HIV/AIDS Community Advisory Board. My role, with twelve other HIV/AIDS national colleagues, is to provide consultation and advice to GlaxoSmithKline, in partnership with Shire Bio-Chem, on issues related to their corporate engagement with the Canadian HIV community.
The first board meeting was held recently in Toronto. While there, I met also with other organizations related to the Dr. Peter Centre. I spent some time with the executive director of the Canadian Association for AIDS Research (CANFAR) to discuss potential funding for research at the Dr. Peter Centre. I went to Casey House, an AIDS hospice in Toronto. They have visited the Dr. Peter Centre and are exploring, in their re-development plans, adding a day health program similar to ours. I was also fortunate to connect with representatives of the MAC AIDS Fund "where every day is World AIDS Day". They are a long time supporter of the Dr. Peter Centre and the meeting was an opportunity to keep them informed about the Centre's work.
It is with great pride that I represent the centre in meetings like these. We are also buoyed by your support knowing that until there is a cure, all of us will work together to ensure there is Comfort Care.
Thank you again for your continued support.
Yours sincerely,
Maxine Davis
