AIDS Memorial Quilt coming to Clinton Center

FILE - Volunteer Kimara Randolph reads the names of people who died from AIDS at a display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Wednesday outside the Clinton Center on Dec. 1, 2010.
FILE - Volunteer Kimara Randolph reads the names of people who died from AIDS at a display of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Wednesday outside the Clinton Center on Dec. 1, 2010.

The William J. Clinton Presidential Center will host a day-long reading Saturday of names of people who have died from AIDS during a display of the single largest traveling section of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

The center in Little Rock will also serve as the site for a 24-hour reading of names of people who have died from AIDS complications, the center said in a statement. The events mark World Aids Day.

The name reading will start at 5 p.m. Friday and continue through 5 p.m. Saturday. The quilt, meanwhile, will be on display from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The quilt features more than 100 large, personalized panels hand-sewn by friends and family members of people who died from HIV/AIDS. It was started in 1987.

Organizers say the display, returning to the center for a fifth year, helps draw attention to the Clinton Health Access Initiative. That project aims to expand health care in developing countries, increasing available treatments for diseases including HIV/AIDS.

The Clinton Health Access Initiative began in 2002 as the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative to address the health crisis in the developing world and to strengthen health systems there.

World AIDS Day is held on Dec. 1 each year to demonstrate support for those who live with the virus and to commemorate those who have died.

More information on World AIDS Day can be found here.

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