Several downtown Long Beach structures were illuminated in red light on Wednesday night in honor of World AIDS Day.
Almost 100 people raised their red glow sticks in the air along with Long Beach mayor Bob Foster in front of the Performing Arts Center as he counted down to one so that the Terrace Theater Fountains would illuminate in red.
“This disease is all over the world and what we’re trying to do here is to just raise awareness of what the disease is, the importance of being tested [and] the importance of prevention because it is a preventable disease,” said Foster.
Structures such as the Convention Center, Queen Mary, and the Light House were also lit in red. 17 Long Beach restaurants also participated in the event by donating a portion of their dinner proceeds to four different AIDS organizations including the Long Beach AIDS Foundation and Long Beach C.A.R.E. Program.
Long Beach was one of four California cities to participate in this event meant to spread awareness of HIV/AIDS and help reach a goal of ending a mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015, according to joinred.com.
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