President of The Bahamas AIDS Foundation Camille, Lady Barnett announced yesterday that the 21st annual Red Ribbon Ball will be held on Saturday, November 22 in the Grand Ballroom of the Atlantis resort.
"For those of you who missed the 2013 ball, l advise you to get your tickets for the 2014 Red Ribbon Ball now. The 2013 ball was fabulous and 2014 will be even better," said Lady Barnett at a press conference at the Hilton hotel in Downtown Nassau.
"Last year, we raised $80,000.00. This year, we hope to raise even more funds. We need to raise more funds to support the work of the foundation especially three of our most important and costly programs."
Lady Barnett pointed to the outreach program for adolescents infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.
This program is holistic in nature and as such provides academic, psychosocial and financial support along with food, clothing, life skills, job training and preparation skills, computer access and peer support.
The annual cost per child for the outreach program is $2,000. The foundation currently works with 50 adolescents.
Another program is the purchase of medications. These are not the generic medicines currently provided free of charge by the Ministry of Health, but special medications that some patients need.
These medications are more costly, Lady Barnett noted.
She said the foundation has made a commitment to provide these medicines for four patients.
"That is all that we can presently afford to support," she said. "This program costs $24,000 a year."
The final program is "Combatting HIV and AIDS through a culture of reading".
This program is intended to sensitize primary school children to HIV/AIDS with age-appropriate storybooks.
The books are donated annually to primary schools throughout The Bahamas, and in some cases, guest readers read the stories to the students.
This year, the foundation has included a slogan and jingle competition that will coincide with World AIDS Day on December 1.
"As you can see, the proceeds from the Red Ribbon Ball are vital to the work of the foundation," Lady Barnett said.
"I encourage the community to support the ball, come and have fun and know that you are supporting a worthy cause."
Lady Barnett thanked the foundation's "loyal and generous partners", including Cable Bahamas, Zamar, John Bull, Hilton Hotel, Colina, Bahama Fantasies, Pictet Bank, BTC, JetBlue, Atlantis and Scotiabank.

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