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National AIDS Memorial Grove

In the decades following the first reports of AIDS in the United States in 1981, Americans were overwhelmed with the devastation of the AIDS epidemic. In 1988 a few San Francisco residents belonging to communities hit hard by the AIDS epidemic envisioned a place of remembrance for those who had lost their lives to AIDS. They imagined a serene AIDS memorial where people could go to heal. Renovation for the National Aids Memorial Grove began in September of 1991 and continues today as communities are constantly working to improve it. Located at 856 Stanyan Street, in the eastern portion of Golden Gate Park, the Grove stretches across seven acres of land. In 1996, due to Nancy Pelosi’s efforts, the “National AIDS Memorial Grove Act” was passed by Congress and the President of the United States, Bill Clinton, which officially made those seven acres of Golden Gate Park the first AIDS memorial in the United States. Then in 1999, it earned the Rudy Bruner Silver Medal Award for excellence in the urban environment. Due to its serene environment of redwoods, maples, ferns, benches, logs, and boulders, this memorial remains a place where people go to grieve, hope, heal, and remember. Located at the Dogwood Crescent the Circle of Friends is the heart of the grove. The Circle of Friends has over 1,500 names inscribed on its flagstone ground which represent lives lost to AIDS. If one wishes to inscribe a name into the Circle of Friends they must donate $1,000 to the memorial and the name will be inscribed before the Worlds AIDS day commemoration on December 1st. Funded privately and tended by over 500 of volunteers, The National AIDS Memorial Grove remains an important sanctuary for remembrance.

Over 700 people visited the Grove on 2015 World AIDS Day. This picture perfectly captures human inter nation with the circle of friends as the whole world mourns the loss of loved ones to AIDS.

On November 30th an annual Light in the Grove fundraising gala is held in the Grove. This event held on the eve of Worlds Aids Day sells out each year and has been voted “Best Bay Area LGBT Fundraiser” by Bay Area Reporter readers in 2015.

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