Outside AIDS benefits hinder efforts in VT

cantimledfronzfront page

ers argue, "I just sponsored
you for the Swim.”

While her supporters in
1996 didn't question the appro-
priateness of her fundraising,
Aranoff reported that one
friend declined his financial
support, and began a discus-
sion with her that affected how
she approached fundraisin g in
'97. Aranoff acknowledges that
she leveraged connections she
had in Vermont's AIDS com-
munity as Executive Director
of the Vermont AIDS Council
in securing donations for the
'96 Swim for Life. Many of the
people that she tapped for do-
nations are the very same who
struggle to raise money for
Vermont's local organizations,
and she recognizes that the
$1,050 she raised for the
Provincetown organizations
would have been a significant
contribution to any of our 10-
cal non—profits.

Anxious to swim again in
'97, Aranoff elected to provide
her supporters the opportunity
to sponsor her participation
through contributions to either
the Provincetown Swim for
Life, or the Vermont Coalition
for Disability Rights, on whose
Legislative Committee Aranoff
sits. Aranoff, a staff attorney at
Vermont Protection and Advo-
cacy, a federally funded agency
that advocates on behalf of
people with disabilities, and
who has herself been confined
to a wheelchair or dependent
on crutches for the past six
months since suffering a com-
pound fracture of her left thigh
in an automobile accident last
spring, stated in her 1997 ap-
peal letter to friends and col-

* leagues, "My awareness of dis-

ability issues has been raised
tremendously this year...As a
result, I would like some of the
money I raise to stay in Ver-
mont to support advocacy ef-
forts for people with any type
of disability." In support of her
swim this year, Aranoff col-
lected $255 for the P—Town
agencies and just over $200 for
the VCDR.

Aranoff concedes that
she didn't expect to be as suc-
cessful last year as she was.
The response to her appeal
"shocked me. After the swim,
I realized how much I, or any-
one, could potentially raise,
and I decided I wanted to do
this in Vermont."

While it's awkward to be
apologetic about raising funds
for any worthwhile non—profit
service organization, some Ver-
monters who have partici-
pated in P-Town's Swim for
Life have avoided Aranoff's
position by paying the registra-
tion fee out of their own
pocket. Richard Alther, a long-
time competitive swimmer
who trains regularly from his
home on the shore of Lake
Champlain in Ferrisburg, re-
ports, ''I don't solicit contribu-
tions; Ijust pay my way."

Cheryl Elinsky, who re-

cently became the first Ver-
monter to swim the English
Channel (see page 1), partici-
pated in the Swim for Life for
three years. The first year, she
collected $300 in pledges, and
"felt good about it." In the sec-
ond year, like Alther, she paid
just the registration fee, mostly
out of her own pocket. By the
third year Elinsky became dis-
illusioned with the event. She
appealed to event coordinator
]ay Critchley for a waiver of
the registration fee, explaining
that her fundraising efforts in
the small_ community of
Brattleboro was disadvantag-
ing the AIDS Project there. "I
was asking the same bunch of
people" that the Project relies
on for its local funding.
Critchley was unyielding, and
Elinsky moved on to other
events.

Dudley of Strafford, a
volunteer at the '96 and '97
Swims for Life, and a former
Provincetown resident, isn't
convinced that there is any
conflict of interest in support-
ing the P-Town agencies.
Dudley believes that our com-
munity has a special relation-
ship with P—Town, one that
may justify Vermonters’ sup-
port of their agencies. "We all
go here. We take from this com-
munity, be it their water or
whatever. A lot of people have
come here to die. There are
community resources here,
and it's good to know this if
you need help."

Other events, not associ-
ated with P—Town, draw sig-
nificantly more heavily from
Vermont. The Rutland Herald
reported that the Boston—New
York AIDS Ride 3 sponsored
by Tanqueray, which began on
September 13th, drew 47 rid-
ers from Vermont. That event
requires a full $1,500 registra-

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tion fee per participant. Forty
riders, at $1,500 a piece, extract
over $70,000 from Vermont's
communities for donation to
the Fenway Community
Health Center of Boston.
Vermont's local AIDS organi-
zations could fund 2 full-time
AIDS Service Coordinators for
a year, working right here in
Vermont, with that same
$60,000.

Erik Blegvad, of
Wardsboro, Vermont, partici-
pated for his third consecutive
year in this AIDS Ride. Last
year the Boston to New York
event grossed over 6 million
dollars. Neither he, nor Will-
iam Perry of Hinesburg, new
to this event, reported encoun-
tering any concerns about the
out-of-state use of the funds
raised. While Perry covered
most of his registration fee
with his own funds, Blegvad
actively fund—raised, and was
particularly pleased that he
had been successful in secur-
ing individual donations as
high as $500.

High profile fund-raisers
for AIDS, such as the Swim for
Life and the Tanqueray AIDS
Rides, play a role in the Ver-
mont community by involving
people who might not other-
wise get involved in AIDS-re-
lated fundraising, and help to
maintain an awareness of
AIDS issues in the public
mind. However, Tom Gardner
of Essex Iunction, a Vermonter
living with AIDS, sums it up
in saying, "It’s wonderful that
people are so willing to do
something for AIDS. It would
be even more wonderful if they
were willing to do it for the
people right next door."

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