World AIDS Day honored with a giving tree

Saturday was World AIDS Day, 31 years since the first AIDs case was reported in the U.S.

The local HIV and AIDS community honored the day with a community giving tree.

Volunteers from the community and the Deschutes County Health Services HIV Prevention Program helped string ornaments on the tree at the Deschutes Public Library.

Each ornament has an item from one of seven non-profits in Central Oregon that they need.

The HIV Prevention Program volunteers say they really want to give back.

“We would love people to take an ornament home, and bring an item back to the sponsored agency,” Sari Pohlman, a nurse with the HIV Prevention Program. “We are just trying to give to the agency who have given so much to us.”

After the event, the tree was moved to the main lobby of Bend Memorial Clinic’s east location. It will be removed on December 14th.

Volunteers wanted to remind the public that HIV is still prevalent in the nation and in Central Oregon.

Their hope from Saturday’s event: both to urge people to get tested and inform the public.