US rower commemorates National HIV Testing Day at St. Pope John Paul II National Shrine on June 27.

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES, June 26, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Don Victor Mooney of Flushing, Queens (55) returns to Historic Hotel Bethlehem in advance of National HIV Testing Day on Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 10 AM. This time, Mooney will not be reducing the swelling on his shins. In 2012, Mooney completed a walk from New York City to Bethlehem and back for AIDS awareness. At the halfway point, he rested at Historic Hotel Bethlehem. In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Mooney will make a 15 minute pit stop and call attention for HIV Testing Day before continuing by car to Washington, D.C.

On June 27, 2014, Mooney arrived in St. Martin (FWI) after rowing across the Atlantic Ocean on a fourth attempt from the Canary Islands to encourage voluntary HIV testing, a first for an African American. Bethlehem based Orasure Technologies, supplied Mooney with an OraQuick HIV educational test stick which he used to call attention for HIV Testing in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Mooney lost one brother to AIDS and has another battling the disease.

Mooney, a devout Catholic will make a pilgrimage to Saint John Paul II National Shrine and take an HIV test on June 27, 2021 after Mass, which coincides with National HIV Testing Day.

In 2004 at the Vatican, then Pope John Paul II blessed Mooney for his mission. His audience was made possible by Diocese of Rockville Centre and Cardinal Francis Arinze, Emeritus Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The theme for 2021 National HIV Testing Day is dubbed My Test, My Way.

About 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV, according to HIV.gov. About 13 percent of them do not know it and 37.6 million people globally were living with HIV in 2020. Mooney will start off his day at Royal Sonesta Hotel DC with a bowl of oatmeal. After losing 80 pounds during the Atlantic Ocean crossing, oatmeal was the only thing his body could consume on land for the first week. Mooney recovered at Sonesta Maho Beach Resort, Casino & Spa in Sint Maarten, DWI, before continuing to New York's Brooklyn Bridge.

Mooney is the President of H.R. 1242 Resilience Project, which was established to commemorate the 400 years of African American History. The theme for this initiative is dubbed, 400 Years: Resilience, Faith, Healing & Partnership.

June 27, 2021

St. John Paul II National Shrine
3900 Harewood Road, NE
Washington, DC 20017

Mass – 11 AM (in Spanish)

On the net: www.goreechallenge.com; www.HR1242resilience.com, www.HIV.gov

Social Tags: #SelfTest4HIV, #HIVTestingDay, #KnowYourStatus, #EndAIDS, #Africa2Brooklyn, #NeverGiveUp, #WhenWePray, #goreechallengestory, #WeRowHarder, #ExtremeFaith, #Vatican, #PopeFrancis

Lisa Samuels
GC Media
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