AIDS Care Receives $5,000 Amgen Grant

The nonprofit support group AIDS Care Inc. has received a $5,000 grant from the Amgen Foundation to help indigent Ventura County residents affected by HIV or AIDS.

“Many of our clients are indigent, and they need help to buy medication, pay rent or keep their phones turned on,” said Doug Green, executive director of AIDS Care. “This grant will help us provide emergency financial assistance to them.”

The Amgen Foundation donation will also boost AIDS Care’s $200,000 annual budget, which suffered a blow earlier this year when the group failed to win a grant from the county’s HIV consortium. “This will make up some of the difference, and we’re really grateful,” Green said.

Last year, the Amgen Foundation also awarded AIDS Care $5,000, and stipulated that the grant be used to help clients buy prescription drugs. Amgen Inc., a global biotechnology company, markets Epogen, a drug used by some patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS.

The Amgen Foundation, the biotechnology company’s charitable arm, distributed about $615,000 in grants last year to support the arts, education, environment and social services.