Taste of Life: Fundraising food festival supports Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation

It costs money to treat HIV/AIDS — money the Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation hopes to raise Saturday during Taste of Life.

The event includes food, beverages and desserts provided by numerous restaurants, chefs and vendors; a silent auction; entertainment, including a 75-minute pinup burlesque cabaret show; music; and dancing to the sounds of the Rainbow Band.

The event is from 6-10 p.m. at King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel’s Luau Grounds. Silent auction items are available at 9 p.m. Call 331-8177 for ticket information.

The Hawaii Island HIV/AIDS Foundation provides multiple services to help people with the virus and prevent other people from getting the disease. The group offers testing for HIV and Hepatitis C and educates the community. It also provides condoms and safe-sex kits.

“How can we, as a community, help HIV-positive individuals?” is one of the core questions of treatment, said Teri Hollowell, director of programming for the group.

The foundation makes efforts to talk about the disease, provide treatment, reduce stigma and provide testing. The virus acts by targeting and destroying important cells in the immune system. This makes the patient vulnerable to other diseases.

The group attempts to provide a full-scale service, including assistance with disability claims, federal health benefits or food. Food is provided by its in-house food pantry. The pantry is important for the counselors, said Hollowell, as everyone can talk about food. This serves as a way to get people to be more open, she said.

They are limited to one visit a month for their clients, she said.

Many of their clients are homeless, she said, making supplying food important. Those people also are at risk of going off their medical regimens as a result of the instability of their lives, she said.

A vital concern is getting the patients their medications, Hollowell said. The current treatment for HIV is a lifelong program of anti-retroviral medications. This helps prevent the virus from multiplying and maintaining a healthy immune system. It also reduces the likelihood of transmitting the disease.

The three largest categories of reported exposures on the island come from male-to-male sex, with 378 cases, followed by injected drug use at 57 cases and then heterosexual contact at 49.

This partially has guided the foundation’s efforts, which included outreach to the gay community and a needle-exchange program.

One piece of that outreach includes setting up a table in local bars, said Bruce Merrell, executive director. It can be surprising how many people will stop by at those tables, he said. Sometimes, people will be interested in the information. Others will go with the confidential tests provided for the group.

In these ways the organization can find people who are not aware they have the disease, Merrell said, and help them begin treatment. The stigma that still surrounds HIV/AIDS complicates the group’s efforts, Hollowell said.

“It’s surprising how strong it still is,” Merrell said.

They have to explain repeatedly that AIDS is not spread by hugs, shaking hands or eating together, he said.

The stigma might scare off some of their clients, who don’t want their status or concerns known, Merrell said. One way to counter that is to use the unmarked back door of the building for people who don’t want to be seen, he said.

It also leads to home visits and meetings at a neutral place such as a fast food eatery, Hollowell said.

AIDS itself rarely kills the person. Instead, death comes from other illnesses that normally are halted by a healthy immune system. But an early intervention and lifelong treatment can provide people with HIV a lifespan comparable to other Americans, according to CDC figures.

“These people can still significantly contribute to the community,” Merrell said.

Email Graham Milldrum at gmilldrum@westhawaiitoday.com.