Leadership Council

Leadership Council Spotlight

Bryan Harper

Like most APLA donors, Leadership Council member Bryan Harper has been “deeply affected” by AIDS.

“I have lost many friends to AIDS who fought for survival with all their youth and energy,” Harper says.

Raised in what he calls a “medical family,” he grew up expecting solutions to the problems of illness. With AIDS, he notes, there have been “incredible advances from the early days of despair,” thanks to the efforts of vaccine researchers and scientists whose drugs have extended the lives of “family and friends who would have been lost twenty years ago.”

That said, he suggests that we cannot “count solely on science, government, religious organizations” or “some miracle to stop all the infections, provide a cure or return us to a feeling of safety and happiness.” Harper has personally felt “very helpless” and in those moments, he says, he has found APLA “to be like a big family with a mission to teach awareness of every possible way to fight this disease.

“APLA has been one of the finest organized, aggressive and successful groups of individuals dedicated to the fight against AIDS,” Harper says. “Its reach is far and wide because of the very nature of our location and the involvement of the personalities who have spoken out for this fight.”

Harper reminds us that 18,000 Americans die of AIDS each year, and the virus is believed to have killed 500,000 Americans since 1981. He suggests that “we must focus on addressing the needs for testing, education and support of organizations like APLA to slow the progression of this deadly disease among all people.”

We thank Leadership Council member Bryan Harper for his support of APLA.

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To get started, send an e-mail to Associate Director of Development, Joel Wyatt, or call him directly at 213.201.1564. He will be happy to answer any questions you may have about the Leadership Council and how you can help support APLA’s programs and services by becoming a member of the Leadership Council.