Local partnership highlights need for immediate help in the nation’s capital
WASHINGTON, D.C., January 19, 2009– This coming Tuesday, January 20, volunteers from Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care, Inc., (PAHC) and RTC Relationship Marketing (RTCRM) will hand out 12,000 specially designed stickers to spectators during President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural festivities.
The campaign’s goal is to draw attention to the more than 12,000 D.C. residents currently living with HIV/AIDS and to prompt local, state and federal government officials to respond to this health care crisis.
“Barack Obama has pledged to launch a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy in 2009. So we’re asking him to start here, where we need it most,” says Khadijah Tribble, executive director of PAHC. The infection rate in Washington is more than 12 times the national average, with an estimated 5% of the city’s population infected. Many of the citizens infected or affected by this epidemic are children.
The stickers, created by marketing and advertising firm RTCRM, were designed using elements of the PAHC logo to reinforce the organization’s mission of hope, as well as keying in on the color red, symbolic of AIDS awareness. The bright stickers were also designed to stand out in inauguration crowds. The joint volunteer opportunity during Tuesday’s inaugural festivities marks the kickoff of what will hopefully be an impactful collaboration between PAHC and RTCRM during 2009.