SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- AIDS/LifeCycle 11 participants have successfully completed their first day of riding, reports Team San Diego member Sean Suydam.

After Sunday's early morning opening ceremony at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, the nearly 3,000 riders, staff, and volunteers embarked on their 575-mile journey to Los Angeles in an effort to raise support, funds, and awareness in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The ride, which is organized by the LA Gay & Lesbian Center, benefits numerous California HIV/AIDS charities and is in its 11th year.

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego LGBT Community Center has announced the date for the 2012 AIDS Walk & Run San Diego.

The 23rd annual event will take place on Sunday, Sept. 30, starting in Balboa Park. The walk will step off at 8:15 am near Sixth Avenue and Quince.

AIDS Walk is San Diego County's largest one-day HIV/AIDS fundraiser, and last year helped deliver more than $400,000 in grants to 10 local agencies through a unique funding partnership with the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative.

SAN DIEGO -- Being Alive San Diego, which has provided life-saving services to San Diegans living with HIV and AIDS for over 20 years, has recently received a $30,000 matching gift from two of the organization's supporters.

The organization, which has struggled over the years due to government funding cuts, hopes community members will step up and help reach the matching donation goal so Being Alive can continue its tradition of providing high-quality services to those most in need.

LOS ANGELES – AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) again this week called on the California Legislature to roll back the governor’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) cost-sharing proposal, which threatens access to life-saving HIV drug therapies for many of the state’s poorest living with HIV/AIDS.