JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — December 1 is World Aids Day. For the 26th consecutive year, special quilts are being put up inside Jacksonville City Hall to mark the day.

It’s all meant to commemorate those who lost their lives to HIV/aids.

Quilts are on full display, honoring those children who passed away from HIV/AIDS.

Other quilts were also displayed, two of them having a special connection to Jacksonville.

Alice Huntley and Angela Nelson have been working for a year on a special project designed for the Aids Memorial Quilt.

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Monday, for World Aids Day, they brought the quilt panels to City Hall to be placed on display with many other quilts honoring those who died of aids/HIV.

“Inside of the quilt is filled with roses, hearts, and cats,” Angela Nelson said.

Those details added are there for their friend Evelyn Phillips, whom they called Peaches.

Her friends say she was a local advocate for those living with HIV. Peaches passed away in 2009, but before that, she started a support group. Another of the panels displayed with the Jacksonville connection was made for a local advocate named Kat. Now those quilts will travel to California to get certified.

“We may not see them back here for 5 to 10 years because then those quilts will travel throughout the world,” Justin Bell, CEO/founder of Friends of the Quilt Jacksonville, said.

Bell said when the quilt display originally started, they didn’t think they needed a place like City Hall to display it. As many thought there would be a cure by now.

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“The fact is, it’s still happening,” Bell said.

While Duval’s HIV infection rate has trended downward in the last 20 years, it’s still above the state’s average, according to the Florida Department of Health stats.

Organizers say days like today draw awareness. They hope events like this lead to more people getting tested.

“We’re talking about 1 in 7 people living who don’t even know they are positive,” Mohammed Reza, M.D., at REZA Health said.

They will have the quilts on display until December 4th.

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