A crowd of approximately 200 people came together for Mama’s Kitchen’s 13th annual “Tree of Life” Tree Lighting Ceremony which took place in the Village Hillcrest Retail Center on Wednesday, Dec. 1, in observance of World AIDS Day. Keynote addresses were given by 49th District U.S. Congressmember Susan Davis, Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins, Councilmember Donna Frye and State Senator-elect Christine Kehoe. Beth Shelburne, KFMB 8 News anchor, emceed the event.

The tree lighting ceremony is sponsored by and a fundraiser for Mama’s Kitchen, a nonprofit meal delivery service dedicated to San Diegans affected by HIV/AIDS. Each year Mama’s Kitchen raises close to $20,000 from this event which helps to fund services.

Alberto Cortes, executive director of Mama’s Kitchen, welcomed the night’s speakers and emphasized the importance of having courage against this deadly epidemic.

“It is the courage of people with AIDS that we celebrate and support today. In the face of overwhelming adversity, it is their resilience that we honor. In the face of hopelessness, it is their hope that we affirm,” said Cortes.

Kehoe expressed the importance of having an organization like Mama’s Kitchen to assist those affected by HIV and AIDS in the wake of federal and state budget cuts that eliminate important services.

“Having served in public office for over 10 years now, I can’t tell you how much the need for Mama’s Kitchen continues. The unfortunate reality is that while our country is in this fiscal crisis at the federal and the state level, we are continuing to cut social service programs, not with my agreement or support but it’s happening nevertheless,” said Kehoe.

“Because of the commitment of everyone, everyone at Mama’s Kitchen – the staff, the board members, the volunteers, hundreds of individuals and families in San Diego are able to focus on maintaining their health rather than worrying about where and when their next meal will arrive.”

Davis emphasized the importance of continued funding and an acknowledgement on a federal level.

“…We need to continue to call on our president of this administration to make good on the promises that [he] made in 2003 in the State of the Union Address,” said Davis. “But so far, we know that the budgets have fallen short so we need to redouble our efforts and continue to ask, demand and plea that the funding for HIV/AIDS cases for treatment and prevention continue.”

Frye mentioned the importance of retaliating against discrimination of those affected by HIV and AIDS.

“In order for HIV to be effectively tackled not just on a local, but on an international level, there needs to be efforts made to end the discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS,” said Frye. “That needs to happen. People have enough pain and suffering to go through without having to have the additional burden of being discriminated against. It’s not acceptable.”

Atkins explained that although the U.S. has made progress with medications making HIV and AIDS no longer a death sentence and treatable, other parts of the world are not as lucky.

“The AIDS pandemic has reached crisis proportions in much of Africa, in parts of Asia and eastern Europe…Just this past Sunday I came across a graphic in a Union Tribune feature story … that showed a map of Africa with a life expectancy rate in nearly a dozen African countries at extremely low levels that the world has not seen since the 1800s,” explained Atkins.

“In fact, the United Nations estimates that in six sub-Saharan nations the average child born today will not live to see age 40. That’s something that’s really hard for us to fathom here in United States. This is simply unacceptable in today’s global community,” said Atkins.

Following the keynote addresses, Mama’s Kitchen’s board of directors president Stacey James as well as Cortes, Atkins, Kehoe, Frye and an individual dressed up as “Mama” initiated the lighting of the tree in the center of the courtyard. A moment of silence followed.

San Diego County Deputy Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten led off the candlelight vigil, as the courtyard became a sea of warm lights. Wooten mentioned the Worlds AIDS Day theme this year, “Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS” and read several statistics relating to women. Wooten stated women comprise just under half of the estimated 40 million living with HIV. In sub-Saharan Africa, this number is close to 60 percent of those living with HIV.

“In the United States, the proportion of all AIDS cases reported among adolescents and adult women have risen dramatically. Ranging from six percent in 1985 to 26 percent in 2002,” explained Wooten. “Minority women, especially African-Americans are disproportionally represented in the statistics of all AIDS cases reported in 2002.”

Messages were recited from personalized heart-shaped ornaments commemorating loved ones. The ornaments will be displayed throughout the month of December on the Tree of Life and can still be purchased through Mama’s Kitchen for $10.

The Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego followed with festive holiday carols.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS declared 2003 had the highest rate of infection and death from AIDS – 5 million new infections were reported and 3 million people died. Worldwide, five people died of AIDS every minute, and revised estimates put the worldwide total of people infected with HIV at 38 million.

According to the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency’s 2004 annual report, California has the second highest number of AIDS cases in the nation, and San Diego County has the third highest number in the state, following San Francisco and Los Angeles. The report documented 28,055 cases in California, and 4,155 cases of HIV in the county since HIV reporting began statewide in 2002. The numbers increase among test subjects annually from 1.3 to 2.3 percent.

Business sponsors of the Tree of Life event included: Suncoast Properties/Village Hillcrest, 10,000 RV Sales, Sycuan Casino, Cubic Corporation, San Diego City Homes, Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Devin Properties and Smith-Patrick Realty.