One of the reasons I love working with nonprofit organizations is that it’s rewarding to showcase their good work in our community. So many nonprofits work tirelessly and quietly behind the scenes — many times helping marginalized and unnoticed populations.
When I started working with Lowcountry AIDS Services more than two years ago, I have to admit that I knew little 
about HIV and AIDS. When I was in elementary and high school back in the late 1980s and 1990s, AIDS was a big topic. Celebrities wore red ribbons on awards shows. It was the subject of news articles and the film “Philadelphia.”
Over the years, AIDS became less “popular” in terms of a cause to get behind. Medical advances meant people with HIV were living much longer, which is wonderful, but it also made the general public more complacent about the issue.
My work with LAS truly opened my eyes to the fact HIV is still very much a problem not just in large urban areas or third-world countries, but right here in Charleston.
At the end of 2015, we created a “State of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Charleston” report that highlighted the fact LAS did 1,711 HIV tests over the course of 2015. Of the 39 positive tests, thhttp://www.aids-services.com/news/state-of-the-hivaids-epidemic/e majority were young African-American men.
We released the report on Dec. 1 – World AIDS Day – and received good media attention and social media traffic. All of which highlighted the fact HIV is hitting our community and much work needs to be done.
This month, the report was honored as a finalist in the Best Non-Traditional Marketing category in the Charleston American Marketing Association 2016 Spark! Awards. Even though this project was not the ultimate winner, I was grateful for the recognition it brought LAS and its work fighting HIV in Charleston.
(photos by Stan Foxworthy/Foxworthy Studios)
