From "The Memoirs, Volume Two" -

            In the summer of 1986, we took a little committee of Triple-A people over to the biggest of the AIDS organizations, the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, to talk with them and see what they did and what they needed and what we might be able to do for them.

They were doing a bunch of stuff, well, medical and such, which was way out of our area, really.  But the woman we spoke with was very moved by our offer and she thought about it a moment.  Then she said they were thinking about something that could be very interesting, perhaps, for us.  It seems they were planning to start a “food bank” for people with AIDS, needy people, who could come and get free food, and they were going to try to get donations of food, canned goods and non-perishables, to start with, and we might think of helping with that.

            We said sure!  We can throw a food drive!  We could have “Food Parties” and charge everybody a box of food to get in.  Well, the woman at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation loved it.  She was very excited and grateful.

So, then we came up with the idea of a big “Triple-A / Ready Set Softball Game,” and everybody had to bring a box of food. 

Now you have to know that this is about the least athletic group of people in the whole world!  So this was true dedication.

*  *  *

We printed up a nice little poster, below.

And we made a nice, big banner for the backstop.  Everybody came in their best baseball outfits.

Matthew got the Bar-B-Q pits going fine.

Our cheerleader even brought a real twirler's baton.  A local dog came, too.

Josh's father, Dick Koral, made up our enthusiastic cheering section.

I think some balls were thrown and bats were swung, though I think there were very few actual "hits" and even less real "catches."

Most of the activity seemed to center around our wonderful Bar-B-Q pits.

As well as the very nice picnic tables that they had there in Jackson Playground.  Budweiser, anyone?

Well, we had a good time and laughed a lot at our terrible playing and ate a lot of hot dogs.  But most of all we were very proud of our big collection of food for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation Food Bank! 

*  *  *

            Then it wasn't long before we got the idea to scratch the softball game and just have a big party and everybody bring food.

            In fact, we soon decided to scratch the big party and just have people come and "drop off" their bags of food!

For a while there we collected a lot of food and the woman at the Foundation sent us a nice letter thanking us. 

AAA Productions

Dear friends!!!

            Thanks again for your ongoing and totally overwhelming support of the Food Bank of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.  The food drive that you recently sponsored brought in approximately $230 worth of food – all of which, as you can imagine, has already been distributed.

            Last month we distributed almost 500 bags of groceries to the men and women who rely on the Food Bank.  Where would we be without your help?  Congratulate yourselves on a job well done, and thanks again for everything that you’ve done to help people with AIDS.

Warmest Regards,

Cary Norsworthy

Food Bank Coordinator

 San Francisco AIDS Foundation

_________________________________________

            The San Francisco AIDS Foundation Food Bank went on to be a big organization for many years and a sort of model for other efforts.  We always felt good that we had helped it out at the beginning.

*  *  *

   ...NEXT:  LAB GALLERY SHOW