The AIDS Memorial Quilt is returning to Burlington County for the first time in five years and it is receiving some new panels from Burlington County residents who lost loved ones to the disease.
The new panels and other sections of the quilt will be on display in honor of World AIDS Day at the Burlington County Library in Westampton beginning Friday, Dec. 1, through Wednesday, Dec. 6. The new panels were created by the Burlington County Health Department and local Burlington County residents.
A special dedication ceremony will be held at the library on Dec.1 from 10 a.m. to noon. The ceremony will feature the unveiling and dedication of the new quilt panels and a discussion about HIV/AIDS featuring a health department nurse, who will share her experiences from the early days of AIDS, as well as quilt contributors who will share stories of their loved ones.
Following the ceremony, the Burlington County Health Department will administer free HIV testing from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Health Department Offices in Westampton.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt was first created in 1987 in San Francisco to memorialize loved ones who had died from the disease. Since then, the handmade tapestry has been displayed around the world and grown to include more than 50,000 panels with more than 110,000 names, making it the largest community arts project in the world.