Welcome Back Students!

September 14, 2012 by Devon H., National Programs Coordinator

Another school year has officially begun and, as CANFAR’s National Programs Coordinator, I am really looking forward to another year of engaging youth across Canada in the cause.

Both myself and CANFAR’s National Programs Manager, Jennifer, started our careers at CANFAR as Have a Heart for CANFAR Program Assistants, in 2010 and 2011, respectively. This means that we are both aware of the amazing power that the Have a Heart program had in reaching students from coast to coast. In fact, since 1993, the program has reached millions of youth through the distribution of ‘heart-o-grams’ and other HIV and AIDS awareness materials in educational institutions across the country.

However, feedback on the program was consistently indicating that students desired more freedom to creatively run their own initiatives, and wanted to leverage the power of social media to promote CANFAR and the need for HIV and AIDS research.

With these suggestions in mind, we are excited to announce that we have re-designed our national youth program in time for Have a Heart for CANFAR’s 20th anniversary this fall.

We are proud to introduce Kisses 4 CANFAR!

The Kisses 4 CANFAR campaign will promote an open and ongoing dialogue about HIV and AIDS, prevention, and stigma reduction through a highly-visible campaign this February. Keeping with the current youth-based model for Have a Heart for CANFAR, Kisses 4 CANFAR will allow us to reach even more Canadians than ever before, and engage them in the discussion about HIV and AIDS.

We are looking forward to launching this program and working with Canadian youth again this year. Please do not hesitate to contact us at K4C@CANFAR.com if you have any further questions.

In the meantime, check out the Kisses 4 CANFAR Facebook page for exciting new developments. Make sure to “like” the page for your chance to win great prizes throughout the school year, while learning more about HIV and AIDS. This February, help CANFAR KISS HIV AND AIDS GOODBYE!