Alyssa Mus­grave leads an SPU group deter­mined to raise aware­ness about AIDS and other issues related to global poverty.

Last night, about 10 stu­dents at Seat­tle Pacific Uni­ver­sity acted as human­i­tar­i­ans, decid­ing that study­ing for tests could wait. They part­nered with World Con­cern to con­struct an exhibit for World AIDS Day, dec­o­rat­ing 1,000 small white crosses with red rib­bons cut from felt.

The 1,000 crosses rep­re­sent the num­ber of world­wide deaths in four hours from AIDS. If there is good news this year about the pan­demic, it is that the num­ber of deaths is slow­ing with bet­ter pre­ven­tion and life-extending med­ica­tion. Still, it is a global cri­sis and human tragedy on an epic scale. About eight in 10 AIDS orphans are in des­per­ately poor Sub-Saharan Africa, the hard­est hit region, where the rate of AIDS in some coun­tries exceeds 20 percent.

Just before World AIDS Day, which is the Dec. 1, SPU stu­dents will help me and other folks from World Con­cern stake the 1,000 crosses into “the Loop,” the promi­nent grassy field on cam­pus. Dri­vers on 3rd Avenue West will see the crosses, and likely won­der what is going on.

Our answer: those who are dying from AIDS are not for­got­ten. And we are part of the solu­tion to stop­ping it and car­ing for those left behind.

All day on Dec. 1, World Con­cern and thought­ful SPU vol­un­teers will sell but­tons for $5 each, with the pro­ceeds going to sup­port World Con­cern pro­grams that ben­e­fit orphans from AIDS in Zam­bia, Kenya and Haiti.

We hope you visit us at SPU’s Gwinn Com­mons cafe­te­ria, learn more, and donate $5.

It’s a small, but impor­tant, way to make a real dif­fer­ence for the most vul­ner­a­ble people.

Learn more: www.worldconcern.org/spu

Each cross rep­re­sents a life. With our 1,000 crosses, it’s only enough to show AIDS deaths in a four hour period.

Stu­dent Amy Whit­ley helped with the rib­bons, one of sev­eral stu­dents rais­ing aware­ness about AIDS.

The AIDS crosses will be staked out­side on the SPU cam­pus on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day.

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