Keihl's LifeRide for amfAR

Katee and Tricia can often be found combining two things they love: motorcycles and helping others.  In 2010 they created the Acting Outlaws and rode from Los Angles to Louisiana to raise awareness of the ongoing cleanup need in the Gulf of Mexico.  You can buy the LA La Ride documentary they made during the ride for only $4.99 on the AO website.

Last year Katee and Tricia rode with the Kiehl's LifeRide for amfAR to help raise money ($115,000) for the fight against HIV & AIDS.  Kiehl's has been sponsoring this event for 3 years now, starting in 2010.  This year was a nine day ride up the East Coast from Miami FL to Washington DC.  Tricia rode the whole path but due to work commitments, Katee was only able to join them for the last day in Washington DC.  Along the way they made 8 stops at various Kiehl's and EagleRider stores to meet fans and raise or present funds. 

This (terrified) spank went to document the excitement at the Tyson's Corner Mall, the last stop of the trip. The LifeRiders approached the Kiehl's store with smiling faces and clapping hands as the crowd gathered.  The store quickly filled with anxious fans and most of the guests talked at length with the fans and supporters as well as posed for lots of pictures.  

Besides our beloved Katee and Tricia, star struck fans enjoyed interactions with several other noteworthy guests.  I saw Christian Bale (Batman!) and Teddy Sears (SciFi fans may recognize him from Torchwood: Miracle Day) as well as: 

the two guys you spy in the back corner behind Tricia: thats John Corbett (Aidan from Sex and the City) talking to Tyson Beckford (Ralph Lauren model), holding an adorable little boy that I heard was his nephew.

Kiehl's was also selling the Limited Edition Active Lifestyle Essentials Kit, the proceeds of which are going toward that $115,000 donation!  Katee, Tricia and Tyson stopped to get their picture taken with the product and tweeted it to fans.

The stars hung around for about an hour and a half as fans enjoyed their company, free refreshments as well as facials, hand and neck massages and consultations from the wonderful Kiehl's staff.  For those of you that don't know, Kiehl's is a skin care brand that features lines for face, body and hair that is all natural and great for even the very sensitive skinned.

Gratuitous extra Katee picture with no narrative purpose. 

After that, they headed to the National Mall to present the Kiehl's panel of the AIDS Quilt at the National Mall.  Kiehl's began the LifeRide tradition the year of amfAR's 25th anniversary.  amfAR was founded in 1985 and is dedicated to Making AIDS History.  For the last 27 years they have funded research that has resulted in huge strides toward saying goodbye to AIDS in our global society.  They contributed to the antiretroviral drug that is used to keep mothers from passing the virus to their infants, a technique to detect viral RNA which helps us diagnose and monitor HIV, supported numerous educational and preventative social initiatives including syringe exchange programs to provide sterile syringes to injection drug users, and funded studies that have found treatments such as the protease and fusion inhibitors.  Working both here in the US and internationally, amfAR deals with both the science of HIV/AIDS and the public policies and social impacts of the virus.  Kiehl's and amfAR are just two of the many organizations Turning the Tide Together.  The amfAR Gala held tonight at the Kennedy Center is the start of the International AIDS conference here in Washington DC.

Someday, we will add the last panel and have eradicated AIDS.