$3,210.00

On Sunday, August 2, I’ll set out from Toronto for Montreal for my fifth Friends for Life Bike Rally. I’ve been training, getting the bike and all the gear ready, and I’m genuinely excited to do this ride again. I’ve also already made a significant personal donation — so I’m not entirely starting from zero.

I do this ride because I believe in universal healthcare.

We often talk about Canada as having universal healthcare, but access to the care people need is not always universal in practice. Prescription drugs are one of the clearest gaps.

In Ontario, many people who work — including people working full time — do not have prescription drug benefits through their employer. For someone who needs expensive medication, getting coverage can mean navigating private insurance, government programs, deductibles and eligibility rules, often while already dealing with a serious health issue.

HIV makes that inequity especially stark. Today, effective treatment allows people living with HIV to live long, healthy lives and, when treatment achieves an undetectable viral load, prevents sexual transmission of HIV. We also have medications that can prevent HIV before an exposure through PrEP, or after an exposure through PEP.

But access can still depend on where you work, what benefits your employer provides, your income, or your ability to navigate the system and absorb significant out-of-pocket costs.

British Columbia has taken a different approach, providing publicly funded HIV treatment and PrEP without the same reliance on employer drug benefits — a reminder that these gaps are not inevitable.

And this problem is certainly not unique to HIV. The same gap between “universal healthcare” and actual access to medication affects people living with many other chronic diseases.

That is one reason the Friends for Life Bike Rally matters to me. The funds raised support the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation and its work helping people living with HIV access food, practical support, wellness services, community and a place where they are welcomed and supported.

So I’m asking for your help.

If you’re able to sponsor my ride, I would be very grateful. Every donation helps — and will also provide some additional motivation when Montreal still feels a very long way away.

Thank you for supporting me, the Bike Rally, and the people and communities it serves.

Cory

P.S. If you know someone else who might be willing to sponsor my ride, please feel free to pass this along.