CAPCO would like to send a huge THANK YOU to the following sponsors who have made our 2019 tricky tray fundraising event possible:

Major Sponsor

Solvency Health Pharmacy

Nota Consulting Group

Sponsors

Billstra Pharmacy

Power Play Gaming

Massage Envy logo. (PRNewsFoto/Massage Envy)

CAPCO is excited to announce our FIRST annual buffet dinner and tricky tray event, to be held on May 3rd, 2019 at the Fair Lawn Athletic Club from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM! A huge THANK YOU to our sponsors for this event!

At this event, guests will have a chance to win from a smorgasbord of prizes, including electronics, kitchen appliances, pet items, toys, make-up, accessories, family trips, activity passes, and so much more! The event shall also feature a 50/50, meaning you could leave this event with cold hard cash!

Tickets are $45 and include the following:

• Entry to event
• 1 sheet of 25 tier 1 tickets
• 1 door prize entry
• Buffet-style dinner
• Dessert
• Soft drinks
• Cash bar available

Additional raffle tickets and 50/50 tickets will be available for purchase at the event.

Prizes will include:

• 55″ smart TV
• 32GB Amazon Fire Tablet
• Two 1-day Six Flag passes
• 1-hour Massage Envy massage
• Two tickets to any Red Bulls New York game this season
• Four tickets to any Somerset Patriots game this season
• Four VIP passes to 5 Wits West Nyack
• Four 1-day passes to YESTERcades
• Four VIP ride wristbands to iPlay America
• Passes to Morristown Game Vault
• Gift cards to dozens of local restaurants
• Gift cards to several local retailers
• And so much more!

If you would like to donate to the event (whether you are able to attend or not), CAPCO welcomes donations of individual prizes and/or gift baskets from individuals or organizations.

For more information, to talk about donating a prize, or to purchase tickets, please contact Austin at (973) 742-6742 ext. 303 or via email at capcoag@aol.com.

We hope to see you there!

On October 15th, 2018, CAPCO Resource Center partnered with NJ Buddies to host an event in recognition of National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day at Noches de Colombia in Clifton. While HIV awareness continues to grow across all communities in the United States, many communities are still lagging behind the national average in terms of HIV testing, HIV education, and so on. This day recognizes the ways in which mainstream efforts to raise awareness of HIV have not always reached Latinx populations.

Latinx populations also face unique problems when it comes to HIV prevention, care, and treatment. Language barriers often affect community members’ abilities to communicate effectively with their physicians, and cultural barriers can make disclosure difficult. Even talking about HIV can be a taboo, which can lead to increased HIV diagnoses in specific cultural communities.

The October 15th event addressed some of this concerns, inviting individuals of all communities and HIV statuses to attend. A presentation was offered in Spanish to discuss new breakthroughs in HIV prevention, care, and treatment, and community stakeholders were invited to speak about their experiences with HIV in Latinx communities. Additionally, Walgreen’s offered free flu shots and NJ Buddies offered free HIV testing to all attendees.

For more information on National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day, check out the NLAAD by clicking here.

On Thursday, August 30th, 2018, CAPCO held a fundraising dinner entitled “Dine Out with CAPCO” at the Clifton Elks Lodge in Clifton, NJ. With over seventy-five attendees and nine sponsors (including Gilead Sciences, PNC Bank, PharmaPlus Specialty Pharmacy, Main Street Pharmacy, Mainfair Pharmacy, Walgreen’s, Lowe’s Home Improvement, Costco Wholesale, and Total Wine & More), the event was a major success and CAPCO was able to raise over $4,000 to continue to provide services which improve the quality of life for people infected and affected by HIV in Bergen and Passaic Counties.

Over the course of the evening, CAPCO welcomed service providers, consumers, and general community members to celebrate the work we do on behalf of individuals living with HIV and to join us in providing for the future of programs that impact communities affected and infected by HIV. Attendees were treated to three musical performances by the talented Michael Saldarriaga and the Legendary Miss Amaz’n Grace, who especially wowed the crowd with their rendition of “After All,” originally recorded by Cher and Peter Cetera. Following these memorable performances, the audience enjoyed music provided by DJ Jay Insult and cut a rug on the dance floor to some of the greatest disco, Latin, and club hits of the past three decades.

In addition to the entertainment for the evening, Dine Out with CAPCO guests enjoyed the company of other individuals committed to supporting communities affected and infected by HIV. Many attendees took advantage of CAPCO’s photo station, taking pictures with one another to remember the evening for years to come.

CAPCO is incredibly grateful to all of our supporters throughout the Bergen-Passaic area and beyond. Without your support, Dine Out with CAPCO 2018 would not have been a success, and CAPCO as a whole would not be able to provide much-needed services to communities impacted by HIV.

Sad that you missed Dine Out with CAPCO 2018?

Sign up for our e-mail list to keep up to date with everything going on at CAPCO Resource Center and be sure to hear about our upcoming events!

Are you interested in working to make a change in the world? Do you want to work in an HIV-related field, focusing on the prevention of the spread of HIV, support for people living with HIV/AIDS, or research into new medications for the treatment and prevention of HIV and/or AIDS? Do you want to find out more information on how you can make these “wants” into realities?

Learn How to Become is an online resource that offers information on how to enter into the career of your dreams. From the type of education best suited to your work field of interest to businesses and organizations that are frequently hiring in that field, Learn How to Become has information directly related to reaching your future career goals. The website’s page regarding careers in the public health field as it pertains to HIV and AIDS can be found by clicking here.

This page includes information about the specific types of careers you can pursue that relate to HIV and AIDS, such as becoming an HIV/AIDS educator, a medical or non-medical case manager, a patient navigator, a research coordinator, or even a microbiologist. Also included on this page is a list of employers that are frequently hiring for HIV-related work, including both those in the private sector (such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, and ViiV Healthcare) and those in the public or non-profit sector (such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and amfAR).

So if you are interested in working in a field related to HIV and AIDS, what are you waiting for? Start planning for your future today!

Did you know that starting in 2018, all current Medicare recipients will be receiving new Medicare cards in the mail?

New Medicare cards will be sent out via the mail between April 2018 and April 2019 to all current Medicare recipients. These new cards will be the same red, white, and blue cards currently used by Medicare, but will no longer show a recipient’s Social Security Number. Instead, a new Medicare Number will be assigned to all Medicare recipients, and this number shall be displayed on the new Medicare cards. This decision is meant to protect Medicare recipients from the possibility of identity theft.

New Medicare cards are free, and there will be no charge to you when they are sent in the mail over the course of the coming year. There will be no change to your benefits with the receipt of this new card. Additionally, Medicare will never ask you for personal/private information or your Social Security Number to receive your new Medicare card. If someone asks you for this information regarding your new card, or threatens that your coverage may be dropped if you do not give personal information to them, it is likely a scam. You can report Medicare scams to 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).

For more information, visit the official Medicare website by clicking here.

The New Year often serves as a time to reflect on ourselves and allows us to consider all the triumphs and struggles that we have had during the past year. The start of a new year also allows us to think about the person we would like to be in the coming year and create a plan to live up to our own expectations. Here are some of the resolutions that we at CAPCO have made for 2018:

Not make assumptions about what others think of me.

This year, we will not make assumptions about what others think of us. Disclosing one’s HIV status is a very personal decision and something that deserves a lot of thought. However, we often go through life assuming that others would judge us if they knew our HIV status, and this often leads us to stigmatize ourselves and can affect our self-esteem. This year, we are letting go of the assumptions we make about what others think of us.

Do things to make me feel happy.

When we are dealing with so many different things at once–our physical health, mental health, finances, family life, work, school–it is sometimes hard to remember to take the time to care of ourselves. In 2018, we will spend time on things that make us happy and that make us feel good, both physically (like exercising, eating healthier, or getting a massage) and mentally (like reading a book or spending time with the people we love).

Dwell in the present, not in the past.

Life is not always easy, and many of us have gone through some difficult times over the course of our lives. While it is certainly important at times to reflect on our past and to learn from our own experiences, it is never helpful to stay stuck there. This year, we will not focus on our past but will instead choose to live in and enjoy the present for what it is. Instead of focusing on HIV and how we came to live with it, we will focus on the lives we lead today and how wonderful our lives can be while living with HIV.

Let myself and others make mistakes.

Everyone has made mistakes in their lives, and we are certainly no different. But while we may have negative feelings about the mistakes we have made in our lives, it is important to remind ourselves that mistakes can be great learning tools for ourselves and others. No one is perfect, including ourselves, and we should not hold anyone to the standard of perfection when it is something unreachable. In 2018, we will allow ourselves and others to make mistakes because we know that no one is perfect, and that is the beauty of life.

We hope that you may take on some of these resolutions in 2018, or that this list has at least influenced you to create some resolutions of your own. For more ideas for resolutions, check out Tyler Curry’s 2015 resolutions that inspired this post here or check out Very Well’s list of top 5 HIV-related 2018 resolutions here.

Here are what some of our clients have to say about what the holidays mean to them this year:

Most holidays to me mean it’s a time for celebrating. The reason I celebrate is because of what was told to me, when I was young, and what I’ve seen growing up. Certain holidays are somewhat like a tradition to me.
Federal and uncompensated holidays. Federal holidays to name a few are Thanksgiving and Christmas, which are times spent with family and friends, and uncompensated holidays are Valentines day which is spent with your significant other, and Halloween which sometimes a party is given. So these holidays and others that I didn’t name, can also be celebrated.

A time to cook food of my holidays past celebrations. To visit with family and friends whom I don’t get a chance to see often.
To reflect on how to improve on my relationships. If there is to be gift giving, let it be something useful. I love most Holidays except Halloween and Independence Day. And try to remember Christmas is the Lord’s Birthday and a present to us. And reflect on memories of past and think of thing to do in the future.

There are several holidays that I view festive. But my favorite one that stands out for me is Christmas because of how magical and celebratory it is. Ever since I was a child my parents taught me what this special holiday really means to them; celebrating Christ’s birth, held on December 25 and also the miraculous circumstances behind his special birth.
Now that I’m an adult I still view a traditional snowy Christmas with music that blends within this special occasion and of exchanging of gifts in which I especially enjoy watching childrens faces light up with excitement! I also appreciate the thoughtfulness of many humble selfless strangers who give to the less fortunate and who often goes unnoticed – but I believe God knows exactly who they are…People blessed to be acknowledged. I for one would like to hope that people are not suffering and left alone depressed but to receive visitors who can offer them hope, happiness, and that spark of Christmas magic and to know that there are still special angels among us in this beautiful season of gratitude and forgiveness. I would like to believe that I personally behold the Christmas holiday as a most sacred & cherished event before the onset of a new year ahead and wishing no more despair in the world but with a restored faith in humanity. This is how I truly wish Christmas to be!

The CAPCO staff wishes you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season and a happy, healthy, and safe new year.