The 8th Annual Albert Eugene Thomas Memorial Basketball Games
E.T. Davis Elementary Dream Team and W.R. Harrison Dream Team will be performing at this event.
Thanks to our Sponsor Willie E. Durham, State Farm Insurance
The 8th Annual Albert Eugene Thomas Memorial Basketball Games will be held Sunday, April 11, 2010 at 4:00PM at G.W. Carver High School Gymnasium. This event is an effort to promote awareness about Sickle Cell Trait/Sickle Cell Disease and HIV/AIDS to raise funds for the Albert Eugene Thomas Scholarship Funds, Sickle Cell Foundation of Greater Montgomery, Inc. and Montgomery AIDS Outreach, Inc.
Sickle cell disease is an inherited blood disorder that affects red blood cells. People with sickle cell disease have red blood cells that contain mostly hemoglobin S, an abnormal type of hemoglobin. Sometimes these red blood cells become sickle-shaped and have difficulty passing through small blood vessels. When sickle-shaped cells block small blood vessels, less blood can reach that part of the body. Tissue that does not receive a normal blood flow eventually becomes damaged. This is what causes the complications of sickle cell disease. There is currently no universal cure for sickle disease.
HIV is a virus that attacks the immune systems, the body’s natural defense system. Without a strong immune system, the body has trouble fighting off disease. Both the virus and the infection it cases are called HIV. White blood cells are an important part of the immune system. HIV invades and destroys certain while blood cells that prevents the body from defending itself against infection. The last stage of HIV infections is AIDS. Those with AIDS get infections or cancers that rarely occur in healthy people and can be deadly. It takes a long time for HIV to progress to AIDS but with treatment, people with HIV are able to live long and active lives.