It is through volunteers that TIHAN fulfills its mission. Did you know that, as a volunteer...

1. Your schedule can be flexible
2. You participate in service opportunities that are fun, challenging, and meaningful
3. You receive relevant, meaningful, and well-presented trainings
4. You can get others involved, and help them make a difference
5. You get back more than you give

Your first step to volunteering is signing up for a Volunteer Orientation. All you have to do is call the TIHAN office, 299-6647, and sign up for an upcoming Volunteer Orientation. Our final orientation for 2008 is scheduled from 5:15-9:15pm on Thursday, November 13.

To discuss the volunteer orientation, or TIHAN's volunteer opportunities, call 299-6647 or email Kim Talerico, Volunteer Coordinator, kim@tihan.org.

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5. Color Me a Volunteer

"If every American donated five hours a week, it would equal the labor of twenty million full-time volunteers." —Whoopi Goldberg

You may not be in the limelight or in front of a camera, but you certainly are a star when you volunteer with TIHAN's CarePartner Support Programs! A combined effort makes others stand up and notice! So, please consider attending our next TIHAN CarePartner Support Training and become a CareTeam, Poz Cafe, Link Specialist, or Holiday Program volunteer!

CarePartner Support Training is your opportunity to expand your knowledge to provide compassionate support to people living with HIV. (Attending TIHAN's Volunteer Orientation is a prerequisite.) CarePartner Support Training will be held Saturday, November 22, from 9:00am to 5:00pm, at TIHAN, 1011 N. Craycroft Road, Suite 301.

Thanks to a generous donor, training is free, and includes lunch, snacks, and your very own volunteer manual. If you want to help us put on the training, you can assist us by signing up to greet volunteers, provide refreshments, and provide scholarship funds. Call the TIHAN front desk, 299-6647, to sign up. Questions? Contact Ari Kelly, ari@tihan.org or 299-6647.

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6. AIDS Does Not Discriminate!

Join us for our next FREE Continuing Education workshop for volunteers and CarePartners on Thursday, November 6, at the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF), 375 S. Euclid Avenue, just south of Broadway. These workshops are held monthly in collaboration with SAAF, and the next topic is Diversity & HIV. We ask all our volunteers to attend at least three workshops each year. Call TIHAN at 299-6647, or email Ari Kelly, ari@tihan.org, to reserve your seat!

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7. Put on Your Walking Shoes!

TIHAN is proud to be part of AIDSWALK once again! The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation's (SAAF) largest fundraiser will take place on the University of Arizona Mall on Sunday, October 19. You can make AIDSWALK 2008 a significant day in your life by walking, fundraising, and carrying decorative signs from your faith community, joining the sea of walkers, and attending the Quilt Opening Ceremony. (This year, SAAF has folded TIHAN's Interfaith Service into the Quilt Opening Ceremony.) Also new for 2008 is a celebration for Warriors living with HIV to conclude the festivities.

The Quilt Opening Ceremony and Interfaith Service are combined at 7:15am. We will come together from different faiths to "remember, support, and prevent." This annual event has left a lasting impression on our community. Leaders of TIHAN member faith communities will speak during the service. Join us for a sacred time of acknowledgement and hope before the walk.

This is the perfect opportunity to gather a team from your faith community and get your youth group involved! You can also fundraise for TIHAN. We can provide instructions, an envelope, and a script to make it easy to be part of Team TIHAN. AIDSWALK is an exciting community event that draws nearly 6,000 participants. Use the momentum to increase HIV/AIDS awareness in your faith community. Ask your faith community liaison or leader to schedule a TIHAN AIDS Educator or Living With HIV speaker during your regular services, adult forum, or youth group.

Visit aidswalktucson.com to register and let Ari Kelly, Director of Education, know when your faith community has a team.

Contact Ari Kelly, ari@tihan.org or 299-6647, to plan your participation in AIDSWALK 2008.

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Once again TIHAN is partnering up with Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation to bring some holiday cheer to our CarePartners. If you are looking to get involved with a fun holiday event, look no further! We have an opportunity for you to donate your time and smiles to TIHAN families.

Family Day will be held on Saturday December 13 and is an event for our CarePartners who have children. We will have a variety of gifts for each parent to select for their child and for each child to select for their parents. We need people to donate and help solicit gifts in advance of the event. And, at the event itself, we need volunteers to serve hot chocolate and help children and parents select and wrap gifts.

In order to volunteer at the event, you need to have completed CarePartner Support Training. If you are interested in helping brighten the holidays for our CarePartners with kids, please call Erin, Director of CarePartner Support, at 299-6647 ext. 13 or email at erin@tihan.org.

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9. Make a Difference Through Education

TIHAN's Education Program is making a difference! Here are just a few of our recent accomplishments:

On June 23, volunteer AIDS Educator Uppie gave an HIV 101 presentation to a group of youth. Their average score on the HIV 101 pre-test was 60%. ALL the students scored 100% on the post-test!

On September 7, "Young Professionals" at Casas Church learned the basics of HIV/AIDS and TIHAN. Everyone said their knowledge increased as a result of the presentation. One person said, "[I learned] a lot. I've never been taught this."

On September 14, TIHAN AIDS Educators taught Temple Emanu-El 8th graders. One student said, "I learned ways to get it, how to avoid it, and what people go through with it." Another student said, "I learned that if you have HIV/AIDS you have to take lots of medice [sic] and drugs just to get throught [sic] today."

We will have one more Speakers' and Media Training this year—Saturday, December 6—so sign up now if you are interested! The training will be from 9:00am to 5:00pm at TIHAN, 1011 North Craycroft Road, #301. The cost of the training is $17 and scholarships are available. Attending TIHAN's Volunteer Orientation is a prerequisite. Please call the TIHAN front desk to sign up, 299-6647. Questions? Contact Ari Kelly, ari@tihan.org or 299-6647.

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10. IRA Charitable Rollover Extended

Late-breaking news from the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona: As part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 passed by Congress last week, the IRA Charitable Rollover legislation has been extended retro-active to 2008 and 2009. During 2008 and 2009, holders of traditional IRAs who are at least 70½ years old can transfer up to $100,000 per year directly to charity, bypassing income tax.

The extension enables Americans to give to the causes they care about. The Community Foundation for Southern Arizona can help donors execute the transfers and choose from several charitable fund options for their gift. Donor Advised Funds do not qualify for tax-free IRA transfers.

This is a limited-time offer: the window is open now, but it will close at the end of 2009. For anyone interested in establishing a permanent legacy in this community, this is the opportunity of a lifetime to make the gift of a lifetime.

For the full announcement and information about the Community Foundation, click here.

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11. Preserve TIHAN's Memories

Videographers wanted! The Education Committee would like to film our 'Living With HIV' speakers' stories and create an archive to celebrate our heroes and educate our volunteers and faith community members. Do you have the skill and equipment to help make this possible? If so, please contact Ari, ari@tihan.org or 299-6647.

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12. Link Specialists Needed to Fill Daytime Shifts!

Are you looking for a way to get involved working directly with CarePartners? Become a Link Specialist! Link Specialists are a crucial component of TIHAN's continued success. Link Specialists are housed in the TIHAN office providing a wide variety of services for our CarePartners. They answer calls from CarePartners, provide emotional support, information and referral, make Poz Cafe reservations, and take orders for and deliver care packages. Link Specialist volunteers work closely with the Director of CarePartner Support.

If you are interested in becoming a Link Specialist and you've completed CarePartner Support Training, contact Erin at erin@tihan.org or 299-6647.

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13. How Do You Like to Give?

Some folks get a thrill out of shopping with coupons and looking for bargains.
If in-kind giving is your preference, click here

Some folks feel best when they are actively involved, using their time and skills to directly pitch in and help.
If volunteering is your preference, click here

Still others prefer to support financially, with a check, cash, or credit card.
If giving monetarily is your preference, click here

And lots of TIHAN supporters give in all three ways.
Visit our website for more information

No matter how you give, TIHAN appreciates your contributions to our programs of education and support so that we—as individuals and faith communities—continue to provide compassionate and non-judgmental service to those affected by HIV/AIDS. It is only because you give that TIHAN and its volunteers are able to work together to build bridges, reduce stigma, and sustain hope.

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14. A Voters' Guide for People of Faith

Election Day will soon be here—Tuesday, November 4! Your votes impact all of us, including TIHAN and those we serve. Here is a voter's guide, prepared by the Rev. David Wilkinson of St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church.

Vote with compassion. Your vote must be expressive of the greatest good, not just what is good for America, but what is good for the people of the Earth.

Vote your conscience, not your public. Be swayed not by how your neighbor is voting, nor how your minister implies you should vote…but only by what you know is a genuine expression of your Truth and your own Divinity.

Vote prayerfully. Be aware that there is a power that is common to all humanity and to all creation: a power "through which we live and move and have our being." Ask of that power to direct you in the polling booth, and ask of that power to empower you to live out, in your own life, what you are voting for.

Vote with awareness and selflessness. This means that you vote not necessarily for the one who will make your life easier…but rather for the one that will make your life more joyful, joy being the most infallible sign of the presence of God.

Vote peacefully. Vote for those who will best exemplify, through their words and actions, those qualities that are most likely to bring "peace on Earth and goodwill to all creation."

Vote confidentially. There is no need to try to convince others to vote your way. Live your vote so noticeably and actively that all may see how life truly reflects what and who you are voting for.

Vote inclusively. Your vote must demonstrate your inclusiveness of, and reconciliation with all people and all things, remembering that "we are all one."

Vote responsibly. Become well-informed about what the candidates stand for, and what they truly demonstrate in their living. This means asking questions of your candidate, reading editorials about the issues and people that you are voting on, and attending candidate forums sponsored by Pima County Interfaith Council and other organizations that are concerned with keeping the public well-informed.

VOTE! And then live out your vote politically, religiously, spiritually, economically, socially and neighborly.

This is a critical time in the life of our country and our world. And the fact remains the future of both is in your hands. Your hands in the polling place are one demonstration of that awesome responsibility.

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15. Bonkers About Melinda Sims

Melinda Sims is an incredible TIHAN volunteer. She is a member of TIHAN's governing Board of Directors, serving as our Treasurer. In addition to being on our Finance Committee, Melinda helps with our "Treasures for TIHAN" event. As a retired United States Air Force Officer she brings 20 years of discipline, organization and leadership skills to TIHAN.

Melinda has been an active part of St. Mark's United Methodist Church since she moved to Tucson six years ago, and serves on their staff as the Administrative Assistant for Membership and Finance. In her spare time, she sings in the Chancel Choir, serves as Vice Chair for the Board of Trustees, and volunteers once a week reading to children at Nash Elementary School.

Melinda's dedication and devotion to our country and our community is a gift to us all. Melinda, we are very grateful for your presence and contributions—we are BONKERS about you!

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