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MCC recognizes World AIDS Day
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Published: December 2, 2009
Mitchell Community College and the Iredell County Health Department worked to bring AIDS awareness to the community Tuesday in observance of World AIDS Day.
The campus hosted special guest speakers from the Hickory-based AIDS Leadership Foothills-area Alliance during a forum in Rotary Auditorium, and AIDS/HIV informational pamphlets were set on tables in the Montgomery Student Center.
ALFA representatives spoke about the services they provide to those living with HIV/ AIDS.
D.W. Bentley, who was diagnosed with AIDS in May 2005 spoke to the small crowd in attendance during the forum. He encouraged the crowd to get tested for AIDS and said he believes he was infected 10 years before his diagnosis.
"Know your status," he said.
Bentley, a Hickory business owner, said discrimination quickly followed his diagnosis because people didn't fully understand the disease.
"Don't treat people like outcasts because they're HIV positive," he said.
At the student center, Health Department Health Educator Amanda Peters manned a table lined with informational pamphlets, red ribbons and condoms while a PowerPoint presentation about AIDS and HIV was projected onto a wall behind her.
Peters said it's important for people to equip themselves with knowledge about HIV and AIDS.
"(HIV) is a very preventable disease, but you do have to have knowledge," she said.
Want More?
The Iredell County Health Department offers free HIV testing. To learn more, call the department at (704) 878-5300.
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