Red ribbon sales down

Although a final figure from the sale of red ribbons during AIDS Awareness Week is still not known, fundraisers are expecting the result to be lower than last year.

We’ll have a figure next week, ACON events manager David Wilkins told Sydney Star Observer. It’s not dramatically down, but it’s quite obvious that there’s something going on -¦ All of our collectors were coming back commenting on how much harder it was than last year.

Wilkins noted that there were more volunteers than last year and commended them on their work, but was unable to account for the drop in donations.

If someone’s got an answer to that, I’d love to know it -¦ It’s a really disturbing trend that’s going on everywhere, Wilkins said. I don’t know what the problem is about putting $2 in a bucket, but hey, I’m a community sucker.

I must say though that the gay community on Oxford Street and in Newtown were probably more supportive than they have been for a couple of years, added Wilkins. It was extremely visible, the ribbons and pins, around Darlinghurst last week. It was really great to see.