Sunday, May 02, 1999
Readers respond to AIDS effort
More children are being helped
BY MARK CURNUTTE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
I believe you are doing the Lord's work and I'm praying for you. God bless you and your family.
Kelly Chambers has received dozens of cards and letters since she and the pediatric AIDS group she founded, FACE (For AIDS Children Everywhere), were featured in The Cincinnati Enquirer March 21.
Most of the notes came with donations, small and large. They've added up to $15,400 in cash, food and household items, which have helped Mrs. Chambers help families infected and affected by AIDS.
More financially strapped families dealing with HIV have received free food and household items, and dozens more children with AIDS and their siblings will be able to go on outings this summer.
“There are still people out there who love you for what you do, not what you have,” said Mrs. Chambers, 30, of Cleves, who has been HIV-positive for 13 years and has had full-blown AIDS since 1994.
Since March, she has been diagnosed with cervical cancer and has been told by doctors that she has lesions on her brain.
In spite of her deteriorating health, Mrs. Chambers is accepting many of an increasing number of public speaking invitations. She spoke Tuesday to 70 first-year nursing students at Northern Kentucky University, the fourth consecutive year she has made that appearance.
She told the audience what has happened since her story appeared in The Enquirer.
Instead of a couple of dozen, more than 80 infected and affected children ages 5-15 will make the overnight trip to SeaWorld in Aurora, Ohio, on July 15 and 16. A local group, the National Historical Vehicle Society Foundation, of Sharonville, has paid for the use of an air-conditioned bus.
FACE has also scheduled a picnic and Cincinnati Zoo outing for children and their families, thanks to donations.
Its storage room, near the FACE office in the basement of Holmes Hospital, is now filled with food, diapers, clothing and baby formula.
Mrs. Chambers co-founded FACE in January 1992, two months after her 14-month-old daughter, Crystal Chambers, died of AIDS. Mrs. Chambers, infected through unprotected sex in 1986, didn't know she had AIDS until after she married another man and had the baby.
There have been negative responses since her story was in the newspaper. She has received prank phone calls and rocks were thrown at the windows of her home.
A local video producer/director contacted her about developing a script and shooting a TV movie.
But the letters and personal notes mean the most to Mrs. Chambers. Especially ones like this:
I lost my brother to AIDS three years ago. As much as we would rather not face the monstrosity of AIDS, it has brought forth some of the most incredible human souls I have ever seen. True heroes are only born out of extreme adversity.
She has signed a contract to tape an episode of The Montel Williams Show in New York.
One of Mrs. Chambers' neighbors has become a close friend since — in advance of the story publication — Mrs. Chambers took time to talk to her about her condition.
The newfound friendship with her neighbor helps Mrs. Chambers deal with the dark hours. So do the cards. She reads them at night.
What you have done is amazing. Thank you for opening my eyes.
Cincinnati vs. Flynt: The Sequel
Obscenity trials highly subjective
Video technology brought porn home
The players in Flynt trial
Would city get mayor or monster?
A couple of time-tested reasons to vote
5 good reasons for Charter reform
Issue 4 requires more than 30-second attention span
Insanity to be hard defense for trash-can mom
Successful insanity pleas in Tristate
West-bound commuters should seek new route
4,000 gather for Troutman funeral
Boone to use phone alerts
Montgomery meeting to update on tornado cleanup
Tornado victims robbed of salvaged possessions
Say so long to Stenger's
GET TO IT
How to fell 14-story building unclear, as is site's future
No Namers make best of life in no-man land
'Noah' goes overboard
Portman behind naming CIA headquarters after Bush
Portman, Chabot firm in opposition to war
Taking bows on Broadway
What goes down at the Parktown?
Willis Music celebrates 100 years of service
Wish list for CSO maestro
Dems tired of losing
A school made from scratch
Butler shows its history
Few injuries on stadium site
Investigation continues of ex-property value administrator
Ky. board to consider park grant
Ky. can't keep public defenders
Prisons now help mentally ill
Readers respond to AIDS effort
Regional workforce meeting planned
School board wants input
TRISTATE DIGEST
