Wilton Manors, Florida – The Smart Ride has helped The Poverello Center, Inc. purchase HIV testing kits for our community to test at home or at our facility through its 10% Lifeline program. Each year, up to 10% of the total raised from The SMART Ride is set aside to gift funds to other agencies throughout Florida that also provide services for those living with HIV/AIDS or help to prevent the spread of this disease. Poverello purchased DETERMINE™ HIV-1/2 AG/AB COMBO which is a State-of-the-Art 4th generation HIV rapid test, the first antigen/antibody rapid point-of-care test that detects both HIV-1/2 antibodies and free HIV-1 p24 antigen on a single test strip. The technology is the first antigen/antibody test, with the ability to detect HIV earlier than antibody-only tests. Detecting HIV earlier helps those newly diagnosed to address high viral loads early, preventing the spread and damage done by an HIV infection early. Testing is available currently Monday through Friday 10am until 6 pm at the Poverello thrift store in Wilton Manors and Pompano Beach.

https://poverello.org/  began in 1987 by a dedicated group of volunteers who delivered foods to people with HIV recently out of the hospital. Today, our Harkin on Wellness 2022 designated food programming is one of the highest quality, client choice food pantries in the nation. We assist people with chronic illnesses including HIV, Cancer, Diabetes, Monkeypox, Heart and Kidney Disease among others. In 2022, we began offering HIV testing and providing at home testing kits in our facilities.

https://thesmartride.org/  started in 2003 with a vision of giving back 100% of every dollar its participants raise to AIDS service organizations throughout Florida. We also promised that participants would have a degree of control over the distribution of the funds they raised to the benefiting agencies. Since 2003, over $12.4 Million has been raised and 100% of it returned to help those infected, affected, or at risk for HIV and AIDS in Florida.