Sussex County Community College Recognizes World AIDS Day with the AIDS Memorial Quilt Display and a Screening of “The Normal Heart”

NEWTON, NJ – Six sections of the internationally celebrated AIDS Memorial Quilt, the 54-ton, handmade tapestry that stands as a memorial to more than 91,000 individuals lost to AIDS, will be on display from Monday, November 24 through Friday, December 5 at Sussex County Community College (SCCC). This free Quilt display is being presented as part of World AIDS Day on December 1.

Established in 1987, The NAMES Project Foundation is the international organization that is the custodian of The AIDS Memorial Quilt. The AIDS Memorial Quilt began with a single panel created in San Francisco in 1987. Today The Quilt is composed of more than 48,000 individual 3 x 6 foot panels, each one commemorating the life of someone who has died of AIDS. These panels come from every state in the nation, every corner of the globe and they have been sewn by hundreds of thousands of friends, lovers and family members into this epic memorial, the largest piece of ongoing community art in the world.

“AIDS awareness education and honoring those who have lost their lives to the disease has been an ongoing project,” stated Heidi Gregg, Associate Director of Campus Life. “Although AIDS does not get much attention any longer because of advances in treatment and medications, I believe that continuing the awareness will remind people that AIDS/HIV is preventable, unlike any other diseases.”

SCCC will also be hosting a screening of the Emmy nominated film “The Normal Heart.” The screening will be held on Monday, December 1 at 9:25 a.m. in the Student Center Dining Room. The film is about the emerging AIDS crisis, an epidemic that few want to acknowledge. The film follows a group of gay activists, led by Ned Weeds (Mark Ruffalo), as they fight to expose the truth. The screening is free and open to the public.

For more information on the upcoming display or screening at SCCC, please call the Campus Life Office at (973)300-2232. For more information on The NAMES Project and The AIDS Memorial Quilt, please visit aidsquilt.org or call the national headquarters at (404) 688-5500.

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