How to Volunteer for AIDS HIV Awareness Month Events

Every volunteer involved in AIDS HIV Awareness Month events is acutely aware of the need for further public education. Many volunteers have a friend, family member or co-worker who is dealing with AIDS or HIV. You can use your free time and resources to help raise awareness for AIDS and HIV during the month of December.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Spend Time Generating Understanding of AIDS HIV Issues

1. Call student groups at local universities to determine the events they are planning for AIDS HIV Awareness Month. Health advocacy and student issues groups hold public events around the country with plenty of volunteer opportunities.
2. Offer your time and energy to human rights and health issue organizations in your region during AIDS HIV Awareness Month. Local clinics, advocacy groups and think tanks hold events to demonstrate community concerns over the AIDS epidemic. You can volunteer to find additional volunteers or seek out support from local businesses.
3. Tell attendees of an AIDS HIV Awareness Month event about your experience with the disease. Smaller events usually allow volunteers to offer their stories and memories about coping with AIDS and HIV in their lives.
4. Provide other volunteers and community members with education on AIDS and HIV issues by manning a table at an event. You should review brochures and publications at the table and perform your own research on AIDS-related issues to add some detail for interested parties.
5. Lend local groups your office space or home to hold fundraising events and dinners during AIDS HIV Awareness Month. You can give donors the comforts and resources of your home or office in a way that is not possible in a convention center.
6. Apply your graphic design experience and creativity when you volunteer to promote AIDS HIV events in your area. You can create provocative posters with updated information to help guide community members to an upcoming event. Your ability to research and format information will help draw attendees to information booths to learn more about AIDS and HIV.
7. Inform yourself on the international scope of AIDS and HIV before participating in events. The United Nations Joint Programme on AIDS and the World Health Organization publish an international assessment of the disease on an annual basis (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Schedule volunteer opportunities for AIDS HIV Awareness Month based on your commute. Take a detour on your way to work to drop off donations to an organization and pick up volunteers that live near your office for a meeting after work. This approach lets you volunteer your time in an efficient manner.