November 30, 2007 11:06 AM Eastern Time 

Florida College Football Powerhouses Team Up on World AIDS Day to Help KOOL Kids Youth Group Tackle HIV and AIDS

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Green Family Foundation:

News Facts

• In honor of World AIDS Day (December 1st), the head coaches of rival college football teams University of Miami and Florida State University are teaming up as their cities join together in the battle against HIV and AIDS
• FSU head football coach Bobby Bowden and University of Miami head football coach Randy Shannon have lent their voices to help raise awareness of "Through Their Eyes" - a photographic exhibit that looks at life through the eyes of young adults living with HIV/AIDS
• In honor of World AIDS Day, the Florida Department of Health has partnered with both schools to arrange for "Through Their Eyes" to be relocated from Miami to Tallahassee (home of Florida State University). From November 29 to December 1, the exhibit will be on public display at the Big Bend Contemporary Gallery, the State Capitol building and at the World AIDS Day celebration at Florida State University
• "Through Their Eyes" is a 10 ft. by 6 ft. "wall of photography" featuring original work by the KOOL Kids, a group of older teens and young adults born with HIV/AIDS. The exhibit was created as part of a phototherapy program funded by the Green Family Foundation through the Green Family Health Initiative at the University of Miami
• Quintara Lane, youth ambassador of the KOOL Kids, is one of several featured contributors to the "Through Their Eyes" exhibit. Earlier this month, Lane, 21, accepted a job at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she is helping counsel young adults with HIV and AIDS

Statistics/Data - HIV and AIDS

• World AIDS Day (December 1) was created by the World Health Organization in 1988 to provide governments, organizations and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the AIDS epidemic
• HIV/AIDS remains a global threat with more than 38 million people suffering from the pandemic. It is estimated that more than 25 million people have been killed by AIDS (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
• Of the more than one billion youth in the world (ages 15-24), there are some ten million living with HIV (United Nations Population Fund)
• Every day an estimated 6,000 youth are infected with the virus (United Nations Population Fund)

About The Green Family Health Initiative

The Green Family Health Initiative is a program of the Green Family Foundation and the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease and Immunology at the University of Miami. The Initiative was created in 2003 through a $2.5 million multi-year grant to the University of Miami Pediatrics Department to support research, care, treatment and education. The Green Family Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation that provides seed money to organizations and programs that focus on improving access to healthcare, treatment of preventable diseases and providing community education. For more information, please visit http://greenfamilyinitiative.org