Arenas District raising funds for Palm Springs AIDS Memorial sculpture

Several businesses line Arenas Road in Palm Springs, each of them unique in their own way.

For one week, six of them will be coming together to support one cause.

“There's not anybody around us that has not been touched by the loss of AIDS, including all these businesses that people would go to it. So I think we're reaching out to those people who can actually have the most impact here. Those who experience that loss," said Mike Richey with the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Sculpture Task Force.

Blackbook, QuadZ, Hunters, Streetbar. Gaymart, and Chillbar on Arenas Road will donate proceeds through a variety of events. Every contribution made on Arenas will be matched up to $15,000 by Craig Attebury and GayMart in memory of Tim Foutch.

“There's a number of large number of people here in the community that have lost loved ones. So first of all, we want to remember those people. And that's a mechanism by which we can do that," Richey said.

This is a just a small glimpse of what the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial sculpture will look like.

This two foot model into a 9-foot sculpture that’ll be displayed in the Downtown Palm Springs Museum Park for everyone to see.

“There's a community side, and the other side, you can reach through, and there's a individual side over here, and you can actually touch both sides," Richey explained.

He says it’s a way to make sure those who have lost their lives to HIV or AIDS are never forgotten. It's also to bring more awareness moving forward.

“It's also important to use that as a touchstone for the younger generation to make sure that those lessons we learned are never repeated," he said.

It’s a cause that impacts much of the LGBTQ+ community.

But GayMart USA, it especially hits close to home.

“My boss is donating a good amount in memorial of his late partner, Timothy Foutch, who is also the owner and founded of GayMart. So it means a lot to us as well, having lost him during COVID and not really being able to have a memorial for him," said Joseph Acosta, who is a Supervisor at GayMart USA.

Over the last 2 years, Acosta tells us this place has become much more than just a workplace.

“It's a community of LGBT friendly people are even just allies... I don't have family to rely on like that I have this community though. My boss has helped me tremendously. He's given me quite a bit of a home here," Acosta said.

With the Arenas District teaming up, Acosta is grateful they can work together toward a common goal.

“The fact that they're being a part of the community and fundraising and doing stuff like that, it just it feels good to be part of that community," said Acosta.

The memorial is about $75,000 away from its goal. It’s expected to be built next year.