The National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park provides a positive focus for grief and a means for the community to recognize the enormity of the AIDS crisis. March through November there are once-a-month workdays where volunteers do gardening work in the Grove. At noon volunteers stop for a circle ceremony for reflection. Free food and drink are provided.
Millions of Americans who were touched directly or indirectly by AIDS can gather to heal, hope, and remember. Its mission is to provide, in perpetuity, a place of remembrance so that the lives of people who died from AIDS are not forgotten and the story is known by future generations. For all the promising prospects on the horizon, AIDS continues to invade our lives, violate our past, and rob us of our comfortable assumptions about the future. The sacred ground of this 10-acre living memorial honors all who have confronted this tragic pandemic; those who have died, and those who have shared their struggle, kept the vigils, and supported each other during the final hours.
Athenian Community Service Blog 