Nationals Nationals Nationals!! Yay, in exactly 5 days, I will be on the plane with my fabulous mother to CHICAGO!! The Windy City! Ok, if you cannot tell, I am EXCITED! Before I get into my appearances and events from this week and weekend, I need to say a VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my fabulous father, Dr. Andrew Tobias, Sr! He has been such a strong man and support system in my life, and I am so proud to wish him a fabulous Happy Birthday!!
On May 25, as you may know, I was able to take part in a very important day for HIV/AIDS, HIV Advocacy Day at the State Legislative Building in Raleigh, NC, where I was able to lobby, participate in press conferences, and talk with my state senators about the importance of increased and continuous HIV funding. Well, I am pleased to announce, we were successful!! We successfully received $14.1 million in recurring HIV funding, so we are very excited, especially in the light of the release and controversy of the first ever HIV/AIDS Strategy introduced by the White House.
Well, while I was at HIV Advocacy Day, I met with a lot of different organizations and a lot of different people. One of the people that I was pleased to meet was Edgar Villanueva the Senior Program Officer for Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, and the founder of the North Carolina Community AIDS Fund. His passion and work with HIV/AIDS is truly inspiring, and I was so blessed that only 1 day after our meeting he contacted me to set up a meeting. The meeting was fabulous. One thing that I love is talking with people about HIV/AIDS, its current impact on our community and the world at large, and the steps we need to take to combat this disease. Edgar and I are kindred spirits, and he asked if I would serve as an ambassador, celebrity board member, and voice for the North Carolina Community AIDS Fund. Boy, was I thrilled! The North Carolina Community AIDS Fund began as a vision to bring together funders from across the state to work together developing a new type of collaboration that would support HIV programs in North Carolina. North Carolina is 1 of 6 locations that was chosen by the National AIDS Fund to be part of the The National AIDS Fund’s Positive Charge Initiative, a partnership with Bristol-Meyers Squibb to fund access to care initiatives for the HIV community. Our main focus is prevention, and I am truly blessed and excited about this partnership, and about the National impact it will have on HIV/AIDS.
Thank you for reading my blog!
All my love and blessings,
Kristie Tobias
Miss North Carolina International
"God is in control, I'm just following His lead." ~Miss NCI
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