ASGCC is one of the oldest AIDS service organizations in the nation – founded in 1983 when Provincetown was being ravaged by the then-mysterious plague, to attend to the needs of the dying. This it has done ever since, with respectful and compassionate support for any need, from rides to Boston for medical appointments, to picking up prescriptions, even to pet care. In those 20 years, as knowledge of the disease has grown, ASGCC’s services broadened to include prevention education, helping people to live with HIV/AIDS, building collaborations with many institutions, strongly assisting public health agencies, and in the process spinning off two satellite agencies. Last year, when state and federal funding cuts forced many charities to tighten their belts, ASGCC responded by merging all three agencies, to cut overhead and gain efficiency. Its Gay Men’s AIDS Prevention Program reaches out to tens of thousands who vacation in Provincetown every summer, and its Needle Exchange Program is one of only four legally authorized such programs in the Commonwealth. This is, in sum, an excellent charity doing difficult work in a difficult time – they need and merit your support.