(MOBILE, Ala.) Every year, South Alabama Cares reaches out to low-income families touched by HIV and AIDS.
"We serve Mobile and 11 surrounding counties in South Alabama, so quite a large service area," says spokesperson Amanda Dorsett Shipp.
The non-profit provides important services like case management and medical assistance, but also immediate tangible help in the form of gift boxes.
"Personal hygiene items, toiletries, linens for bed and bath, and cleaning products for our low income HIV positive clients," Dorsett Shipp says.
This year, Local 15 teamed up with the Greater Gulf State Fairgrounds to make a contribution to the agency. But there's a catch--we had to earn the money.
"We brought a lot of different media personalities out for a 'Ride Survivor' competition, where you continue to ride rides until the last one's standing," says fairgrounds Executive Director Scott Tindle.
Several Local 15 employees gave the contest a try, but it was accountant Brian Anderson who stuck it out to win the $500 prize. Local 15 decided to donate the money to South Alabama Cares.
Tindle says this year's $500 prize was just the beginning of a commitment to helping many more local non-profits in the future.
"We're really looking forward to expanding it next year and getting more people involved, and increasing the amount of our donation that we can make," he says.
On a related note, South Alabama Cares is undergoing a name change. The agency will soon be known as 'AIDS Alabama South'. Its services and the people it helps will remain the same.
