Mother of Ryan White to Speak at RiverStone Health

Ryan White was one of the first faces to represent the AIDS epidemic in the 80's. Up until his diagnosis, the disease was largely considered isolated to gay men and little was known about how it was transmitted. Ryan contracted the HIV virus in 1984 through tainted blood he received in a transfusion to treat his hemophilia.

Ryan's mother, Jeanne White-Ginder became an advocate for victims of this disease when her son was expelled from school for having AIDS. She was instrumental in the ultimate passing of the Ryan White CARE Act in 1990. Sadly, her son died a few months before the Act was passed.

Jeanne will be speaking at RiverStone Health, 123 South 27th Street, Lil Anderson Center in the second-floor conference room, on Friday November 6th from 12-1:30 p.m. Jeanne is an excellent, highly sought after speaker, who will tell the story of her son and help you understand the current challenges AIDS sufferers are facing.

She is also the featured speaker at the 20th Annual World AIDS Day Benefit, hosted by the Yellowstone AIDS Project. The event will take place at the Crowne Plaza at 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 7th and includes a social hour, dinner, and silent and live auctions. Tickets for this fundraiser start at $50 and will raise funds for HIV/AIDS prevention, support and testing programs in our community.

For information, visit yampt.org, or call 406-245-2029.