PORTION OF AIDS QUILT EXHIBIT COMES TO REGION

A portion of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, an international memorial to those who have died of AIDS, will be on display in Cape Girardeau Nov. 14-17.

The quilt will be exhibited at Houck Athletic Building on the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

An opening ceremony for the quilt exhibit will include reading aloud the names represented on the quilt panels on display.

Donations collected at the quilt display will be given to the SEMO Regional AIDS Consortium on AIDS. The consortium provides money to people with the HIV virus and AIDS.

The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt began in San Francisco in June 1987 as one person's protest to the AIDS epidemic. Cleve Jones' friend died of AIDS. Jones spray-painted his friend's name, Marvin Feldman, onto a piece of cloth the size of Feldman's grave. Others joined the effort.

Today, more than 14,000 individual panels have been sewn, each remembering the life of someone who died of AIDS.

Each three-by-six foot panel is made using memorabilia, including sequins, items of clothing, silk flowers, feather boas, leather, pictures, jewelry, stuffed animals and records.

Since 1987, more than two million people have visited the quilt exhibit and more than $1 million has been raised for AIDS service organizations in North America.

The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. In 1990, a documentary film about the quilt called "Common Threads" won an Oscar.

The local quilt display is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Student Organization's office at 651-2896.