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Missouri House Representative Bob Dixon (left) and AIDS survivor Brian Jackson (center) join members of Evangel's Social Work Club at the World AIDS Day candlelight vigil on December 1, 2009.
Springfield, Missouri residents gather on the Square for the World AIDS Day candlelight vigil, which was organized with the help of Evangel University Social Work Club Members.
Evangel University Social Work Club assists with World AIDS Day vigil
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Evangel University Social Work Club members assisted in the World AIDS Day candlelight vigil held on the Springfield Square on December 1, 2009. Sophomore, junior and senior Social Work majors welcomed community members to the evening event. Casey Cox, MSW, LCSW, and '01 Evangel Social Work graduate, assisted in coordinating this event.
Cox currently works as a case manager for the AIDS Project of the Ozarks and recently obtained his license as a clinical social worker. Marlin Martin, MSW, LCSW, clinical director at the AIDS Project of the Ozarks serves as a Social Work Advisory Council member.
World Aids Day guest speaker and AIDS survivor, Brian Jackson, was infected with HIV at the age of 5 and now plans to graduate from high school this spring. Jackson was infected by his father who is now serving prison time for the crime.
According to the AIDS Project of the Ozarks (APO) Web site, the concept of a World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention. Since then, it has been taken up by governments, international organizations and charities around the world.
The organization says on its Web site, "For APO, every day is world AIDS day, however on December 1st each year, we join forces with the rest of the world to raise awareness, celebrate life, and remember those who have died from this pandemic."
"The Social Work Program appreciates social workers like Casey and Marlin who have dedicated their careers to the issue of HIV/AIDS in Southwest Missouri," says Lacey Nunnally, the director of Evangel's Social Work Program.