Georgia King was told to take her son home, love him as much as she could and prepare for his death.

Nearly 20 years later, King is still moved to tears when thinking of her son's death from AIDS and the doctors telling her there was nothing left they could do.

King said she had "heard about it on TV a few times" in the late 1980s, before her son's diagnosis.

"But I thought it happened in other places, not to me," she said.

After two decades as a board member for the Greater Community AIDS Project, King helped the Champaign-Urbana community commemorate the 20th annual World AIDS Day on Monday with an event at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

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AIDS Day around the globe

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The event included speeches from HIV-positive activists, an interpretive dance by an HIV-positive mother, an inspirational song, and comments by clergymen and women of various denominations.

Hanging behind the speakers was a quilt made in remembrance of lives lost in Champaign County to HIV/AIDS in the past year.

The quilt was made by Deborah Fell and each star represented the death of a friend, said Teri McCarthy, director of the Greater Community AIDS project.

To close the event, everyone in attendance was invited to release a white balloon outside in memory and hope.

"Balloons are a little more uplifting than the regular candle lit vigil," said Mike Benner, outreach specialist for the Greater Community AIDS project, of the nearly 100 white balloons that filled the snowy Urbana sky.

"They are carrying the message of hope across town. It's a very optimistic message."

The Greater Communiy AIDS Project is a local non-profit that provides services for people that are HIV-positive or living with AIDS, Benner added.

These services include money for rent and medications, a food bank and a transitional house for homeless patients to get back on their feet.

The project is currently helping 300 people in the group's 10-county service area, McCarthy said.

"We want to raise awareness that HIV/AIDS still exists in central Illinois," Brenner said.

"It's not just sub-Saharan Africa, but it's in your backyards."

Rabbi Norman Klein of the Sinai Temple in Champaign called on political leaders to fulfill the promises they have been making for years about combating the HIV/AIDS issue.

"Bringing insufficient forces to fight a wildfire will only slow the spread, but will never constrain it," Klein said, relating his analogy to the fight against AIDS.

Pastor C.D. Nesbitt of the Glory Center International in Champaign encouraged listeners to take action sooner than later and make a difference before the next World AIDS Day.

"Lets not wait for tomorrow to act," Nesbitt said.

"But lets change tomorrow by our actions tonight."

Benner added that although Americans are widely educated about the causes and health effects of contracting the HIV virus, the numbers of those infected keep increasing.

"It's not that we aren't educated," he added. "It's all about complacency and people getting lazy."