On July 31, a determined band of road warriors embarked on a multi-city motorcycle journey with one mission in mind: To raise awareness and funds in the ongoing fight to eradicate HIV and AIDS. Kiehl’s Since 1851 hosted its 8th Annual LifeRide for amfAR (The Foundation for AIDS Research) this year. To date, LifeRiders have racked up over 11,000 miles in the name of battling a disease that affects more than 36 million people worldwide. The ride ended earlier today in Nashville. But, the race for a cure is far from over.
Kiehl’s USA President Chris Salgardo and amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost led this year’s group of riders which include: Actors Gilles Marini (“Switched at Birth”), Ian Bohen (“Teen Wolf”), Tyler Posey (“Teen Wolf”), Anthony Carrino co-host (“Kitchen Cousins”), Grant Reynolds host/producer (“What Could Possibly Go Wrong”) and Luke Wessman tattoo artist, (Miami/NY Ink).
These riders press on, mile after mile, sometimes in grave conditions to make some noise about a deadly disease which many people incorrectly assume has become a livable condition via medical advancements. Pop star Charli XCX makes a startling revelation in a PSA for the campaign: “Now, one in five new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. are young people, between the ages of 13 and 24,” which equates to approximately 700 new cases per month among young people under the age of 25.
Having supported LifeRide extensively the past several years, the unwavering collective passion of the riders is immediately obvious, strong, and infectious. They’ve weathered physical and figurative storms to draw public attention about the desperate need to stop a deadly killer in its tracks before more innocent lives are lost. Greeting the public and taking pictures with them feels like a small thing to these riders who are hoping for the ultimate reward – a cure and a vaccine for AIDS.
Gilles Marini has participated in seven out of eight LifeRides and I caught up with him at two of the Chicago stops earlier this week. His eyes immediately lit up as I asked him why he continues to ride and support this cause.
“I keep doing this in memory of all the people we lost in my neighborhood when I was a child,” Gilles explained. “It was a huge epidemic and sharing needles was common because heroin was the drug of choice. So, everybody contracted AIDS very early and very fast. People were starting to die and it was really devastating. That was worldwide and it happened where I grew up.
So, I’m riding for them. I’m riding for them and the 35 million people affected by AIDS. It’s not over. We are not sprinting toward a cure and a vaccine. Sadly enough, weirdly enough, only a few people are trying to do this and our group is one of them. Hopefully we can make this happen very soon. I’m tired of having this world live with this disease looming over their head. People say, ‘Now people can live with AIDS.’ That’s a big mistake. People don’t live with AIDS, they survive and that’s not right. I want a cure and I want a vaccine and I want it yesterday.”
Gilles isn’t the only one whose hometown has been rocked by AIDS-related illness and death. Per amfAR statistics, since the beginning of the pandemic, 76.1 million people have contracted HIV and 35 million have died of AIDS-related illnesses, including 1 million in 2016. Furthermore, in 2016, 1.8 million people became newly infected with HIV; 160,000 were under the age of 15 and about 4,932 people will become infected with HIV each day—which translates to about 205 every hour.
These alarming statistics represent people with families and loved ones who ultimately suffer a great loss when a battle with the disease is lost. Fathers, sons, brothers, mothers, daughters, sisters, and friends are taken from their loved ones too soon. Something must be done to end these tragic deaths.
Lots of enthusiastic fans gathered to greet the riders over two days at three Kiehl’s Chicago locations. Employee spirits were high as the cyclists pulled into the stores amidst loud cheers and applause. It was truly a sight to behold …
It’s admittedly cool to grab a selfie with some great-looking, high-profile celebrities. But, the serious nature of the disease was not lost on the crowd who listened intently to Chris Salgardo’s speech about Kiehl’s incredible 166-year history, which has survived huge catastrophes across multiple decades like the Great Depression and killer bee epidemic. He talked about Kiehl’s ongoing commitment to customers and the communities they serve.
Photo Credit: Valerie Hulet-McCarty
LifeRide was born out of Kiehl’s philanthropic nature and its mission to join in the fight against AIDS since the ‘80s. The former apothecary-turned-skincare company wanted to make noise about the disease. What better way to do it, than to put a band of celebrities on bikes for a cross-country, public-greeting trek to help spread the word. The riders always encourage and hope for as big a public turnout as possible at each stop. More people = more potential donations and more voices to shine a light on the cause. The number of people who showed up this year was a big morale-booster.
“There’s a huge turnout. People are very sweet,” Gilles excitedly relayed. “Obviously, this year we brought Nicole and some of the “Teen Wolf” cast, Tyler Posey and Ian [Bohen]. So, that brings a lot more attention to this ride, because the younger crowd is now asking, ‘What is AIDS?’ and that’s insane. They need to know. Just in Chicago there’s 1,000 people infected per year under 30 years old. It’s not over. The scientists are very close and I’m very confident it will end very soon.”
Gilles is determined to ride for as long as it takes until a cure for HIV/AIDS is found. He, like the rest of the LifeRiders, doesn’t care about bad weather and poor riding conditions. He feels the weight of all the lives at stake and it propels him onward. The camaraderie among the riders also sustains him.
“It’s more than camaraderie, it’s a brotherhood,” Gilles said. “We depend on each other because our lives our on the line. People might think it’s just a motorcycle ride. But, it’s dangerous. There’s people riding around in small neighborhoods in Middle America and that’s different than in larger cities.
We’re going 70 miles an hour on the highway, a lot of 18 wheelers, it’s dangerous. We make it that way because we are raising money for a dangerous disease that is not comfortable to live with. So, we don’t want a comfortable ride. We have that bond, that friendship and that brotherhood and that lasts for a long time. At the end of the day, after the ride is over, we still see each other and it’s been like that for me for seven years. So, I will do this ride till HIV/AIDS is gone. Then we’ll ride for something else.”
To date, Kiehl’s has raised over $1.7 million for amfAR via motorcycle rides and donation events since 2010. Visit Kiehl’s website and amfAR’s website for more information on how to support LifeRide’s mission to make AIDS history.
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