Dearest friends and family:

UCLA Dance Marathon is the largest student-organized philanthropic event on the West Coast. With educational and fun events throughout the year, Dance Marathon seeks to unite the UCLA campus in the fight against pediatric AIDS.

This is my third year of involvement in Dance Marathon, and what a journey it has been! My first year, I moraled from 3 - 6 am to keep the dancers' spirits up. Last year, when I was part of the Internal Morale Committee, you helped me raise $500. This year I am committed to raise a minimum of at least $400 again, but my personal pledge is to raise over $600 as part of the Dancer Relations committee! I will be on my feet for 26 hours straight over Presidents' Day weekend, along with hundreds of other UCLA students, in an effort to acknowledge the battle of children suffering from AIDS and spread awareness about this horrible disease.

Here are a few statistics to keep in mind:

* More than 1900 children are infected with HIV each day

* About 1350 children die from AIDS each day

* Over 13 million children have been orphaned by the epidemic since it began

Also, consider the following fact: a U.S. study showed that the drug Nevirapine reduces transmission of HIV by 47% and prenatal transmission of HIV by 41% at 18 months of age. Nevirapine is administered in a single dose to the mother at the onset of labor and in a single dose to the baby in its first three days of life. The cost of one dosage is $8. If I can raise $600, that's 75 children's lives that are saved.

100% of the money raised goes directly to pediatric AIDS. With the support of donors like you, Dance Marathon has raised $665,000 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), the worldwide leader in the fight against pediatric AIDS (www.pedaids.org), over the last five years. This year, in addition to EGPAF, we are proud to be benefiting Camp Kindle and Camp Heartland. These summer camps provide a free haven for children infected with or affected by the disease.

So please help me meet my fundraising goal! And more importantly, please help all those children suffering from HIV/AIDS who can't help themselves. Please consider donating in multiples of $8, in recognition of the cost of Nevirapine. For example, donating $80 to save 10 lives.

Thanks so much!

Love,

Nabeela