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NOTES FROM THE GROVE
National AIDS Memorial Grove Newsletter
A living tribute to all lives touched by AIDS
Summer 2012
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Ruth Brinker's Memory Lives on in the Grove
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Ruth Brinker, Founder of
Project Open Hand
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The woman who made history simply by preparing meals for homebound HIV patients now has a home in the National AIDS Memorial Grove. Ruth Brinker's daughter Lisa, her husband Pat, and members of the Project Open Hand family gathered on the June 16 Community Volunteer Workday to spread Ruth's ashes beneath a lovely new maple gracing the South Slope.
"I feel content," said Lisa afterward. "Mama is
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Family and Friends plant Ruth Brinker memorial tree
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exactly where she would want to be, surrounded by love, beauty and people who are serving others with love in their hearts."
Ruth Brinker was a retired grandmother when, in 1985, she began preparing meals for home bound friends suffering from malnutrition. Today, Project Open Hand delivers hot meals to 1,200 individuals with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses. Ruth Brinker was honored on World AIDS Day 2007, presented with the Grove Award for HIV Community Service.
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Walk With "the Grovies" at AIDS Walk SF!
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 You are invited to register with the National AIDS Memorial Grove's team (#2916) for AIDS Walk San Francisco Sunday, July 15th. Since 1987, AIDS Walk SF has raised nearly $74 million for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, plus other HIV/AIDS organizations in the six Bay Area counties. It's simple to register: just click here!If you won't be joining us for the 10K walk, consider sponsoring one of our board or staff members. This year, for the first time, all funds raised by Grove board members and staff go directly to the Grove. It's simple to sponsor: just click here, then click again on the name of any Grove board or staff member!Funds raised by other Grove team walkers will benefit other HIV/AIDS organizations, of course. Any amount helps, whether it's $5, $10, $25, $50, or more - it really adds up quickly. So far, the Grove is one of the top 15 fundraising teams! This is a really effective and simple way to raise much needed funding for both the Grove and other worthy organizations. It signals our support in the ongoing fight against HIV/AIDS. |
Water Attracts Wildlife to the Grove
by Carlin Holden
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"Robins, hummingbirds, and finches drink and bathe in the new water pools," says Grove gardener Ray Goodenough. Ray notices an increase in the varieties of wildlife visiting the Grove since last year's The Falls restoration project reintroduced water into the (formerly) Dry Creek. "I've even seen a raven standing atop the lower falls, craning for a sip."
Ray suggests that visitors to the Grove pay attention to "the permanent puddles of mud created by the stream...perfect situations for butterfly activity." He has also observed occasional paw prints in the damp embankments of the creek, suggesting that raccoons, skunks, opossums, and even coyotes may have also found the water.
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Grove Board member Mike Shriver took this photo of a Red-Shouldered Hawk perched in a nearby tree.
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The California Valley Quail, our state bird, was recently designated the official bird of San Francisco. "San Francisco's once abundant California Quail population is now perilously close to local extinction," says Damien Raffa of the Presidio Trust. " When the Presidio's quail population was color-banded about 10 years ago, in order to learn about how the covey utilized park habitat, something extraordinary happened. After traveling eight busy city blocks, two of the Presidio males showed up at the Botanical Garden. One was later seen at the National AIDS Memorial Grove."
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"Come springtime," says Raffa, "the males disperse, in the hopes of mating with quail from another covey in the area. It's very possible that the quail in Mike Shriver's photo is the 'great-great grandchild' of one of those Presidio males who made that remarkable trek."
See more of Mike Shriver's Grove wildlife pictures by clicking here.
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And Now, Nancy Pelosi Drive
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She's the highest-ranking female politician in U.S. history, the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, and now serves as House Minority Leader. To celebrate her twenty-fifth year representing California's 8th Congressional District, a street in Golden Gate Park has now been renamed in her honor. It is altogether appropriate that Nancy Pelosi Drive (formerly Middle Drive East) runs adjacent to the National AIDS Memorial Grove.
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Leader Nancy Pelosi with Grove Executive Director John Cunningham, and Board Co-chair Tom Jensen
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Rep. Pelosi co-authored the 1996 bill that designated the Grove as the National AIDS Memorial. To celebrate her 25 years of service, she attended the April 21 Community Volunteer Workday in the Grove, and was serenaded by the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. She and young members of her family then knelt and pulled weeds near the main entrance to the Grove, an area to be dedicated by the Grove to honor Pelosi's long record of focusing national attention on HIV issues.
"A member of Congress has many honors and opportunities presented," Rep. Pelosi told the crowd at the Workday. "I can't think of anything that surpasses having my name associated with this Grove."
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Leader Pelosi at official unveiling of Nancy Pelosi Drive in Golden Gate Park
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On May 21, the Leader returned to San Francisco to attend the official unveiling of Nancy Pelosi Drive. The honor was spearheaded by the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Commission. Rec and Parks General Manager Phil Ginsburg joined Mayor Ed Lee, former State Assemblyman John Burton, former Ambassador James C. Hormel, and an enthusiastic group of Grove well-wishers in honoring Ms. Pelosi's years of service to the community.
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 Permanently memorialize a loved one in the Grove's Circle of Friends. The deadline to order an inscription for 2012 is October 31st. To inscribe a name, please click here. |
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Ways You Can Support The Grove |
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Donate your household items to Community Thrift Store - Select Charity Code #31. Your donated goods will benefit the Grove.
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 | Click Here to make a General Donation to Support the Grove
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Click Here to Sponsor a Community Volunteer Workday
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Click Here to Inscribe a Name in the Circle of Friends
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With Heartfelt Thanks to our 2012 Supporters
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