From Heart To Heart

WALLA WALLA - When it comes to people getting infections such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, Waitsburg's Sharon Clinton believes it's the luck of the draw.

With blood transfusions and contamination risks, contracting such infections can happen "to any of us," she said.

It's the main reason that Clinton and her husband Larry attended a fundraising dinner in Walla Walla for Blue Mountain Heart To Heart, a non-profit organization that facilitates support groups, case management, education and prevention efforts.

It was the Clintons' second year in a row participating in the campaign. They were joined by Deanne and Larry Johnson. Charles Smith, who spends a lot of time in Waitsburg these days, and his wife Ginevra Casa, were there as well.

To realize how random

Heart BEAT

About Needs & Good Deeds

contraction can be, former Waitsburg resident Dennis Nostrant, for whom community members helped raise organ transplant funds this summer, is a case in point. He isn't sure exactly how he was infected with the Hepatitis that's begun to shut down his liver, but he has narrowed it down to transfusions after a bad motorcycle crash or tattoo needles.

Cl inton's employer, Smith's K Vintners, donated some of the wine for the auction held for Nostrant at the fairgrounds in Waitsburg this summer. Smith also donated wine to this weekend's dinner .

"It's a cause after our own heart," Clinton said about Blue Mountain Heart To Heart, which has been reaching out to donors through its Dinners For Friends program for two decades.

The dinner for about two dozen guests at Rick and Cecile Ervin's home on the outskirts of Walla Walla was one of several gatherings on behalf of the organization Saturday.

Altogether, the ef- fort brought in more than $16,000 for the organization, which has an annual budget of $204,000, board secretary Valerie Potter said.

" We can really make things happen with these funds," Potter said during Saturday's dinner

Blue Mountain Heart To Heart, a group that was founded in 1985 and obtained its nonprofit status in 1991, has 29 ongoing clients. Last year, it provided free HIV/AIDS testing to 220 individuals and Hepatitis C testing to 44.

Through its harm reduction program, it provided more than 100,000 clean needles. Through its outreach program, it reached almost 1,500 members of the Latino community with testing, education or literature, Potter said.

Its programs are primarily focused on Walla Walla, Columbia and Umatilla counties, though it has recently also begun serving Benton, Franklin and Morrow counties. It receives state and federal funds for very specifi c programs, but relies on private-sector grassroots contributions for its general income to, among other things, keep the light on the office.

Overall, donors are getting a healthy bang for their buck. In a field where many organizations spend 25 cents of every charitable dollar or more on overhead, Heart To Heart devotes 81 percent of its resources to client services with only 12 percent going to management and 7 percent to fundraising.

Blue Mountain Heart To Heart provides positive, nonjudgmental support and assistance to persons living with HIV/AIDS and HCV, their partners, including children, and friends in the area, according to its website.

A taskforce of health care professionals, social service agencies and concerned individuals "came together to respond to the earliest cases of HIV/AIDS diagnosed in the Walla Walla Valley," the site recalls about Heart To Heart's early days as a nonprofi t.

The Clintons knew a number of people living with HIV/AIDS when they lived in Seattle, where Larry Clinton was chief financial officer of Planned Parenthood and the couple volunteered for the Soup Kitchen on Capital Hill.

"We were there as cooks or peeled potatoes or cut vegetables," Sharon Clinton said. "How could you not reach out to people who need help?"

For more information about Blue Mountain Heart To Heart, please visit: www.bluemountainheart.org or call 509-529-4744.