THE HEAR ME PROJECT ANNOUNCES WINNER OF FOURTH ANNUAL NATIONAL HIV/AIDS STORY-WRITING CONTEST

WINNING STORY SELECTED BY CELEBRITY JUDGING PANEL
INCLUDING HILARY DUFF, CORBIN BLEU, JASMINE GUY, JESSE L. MARTIN

(New York, NY) – June 27, 2008- After receiving nearly 4,500 submissions from all 50 states and 32 countries around the world, 18-year-old Shriya Hari, a student from Brampton, Ontario, is the winner of the HEAR ME Project's Fourth Annual HIV/AIDS Story-Writing Contest for at-risk youth.

Hari's winning story, "Without Salvation," is a powerful account of a young woman struggling with the consequences of her own HIV+ status and her unknowingly passing the virus on to a loved one. This year's entries were judged by a celebrity panel that included Corbin Bleu, Andre Braugher, LeVar Burton, Hilary Duff, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Jasmine Guy, Jesse L. Martin, Harold Perrineau, Judy Reyes, and Dr. Loretta Sweet Jemmott from the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Health Disparities. Morgan Freeman served as the Honorary Chair.

The HEAR ME contest was launched in 2004 after a spike in HIV rates among youth was reported. The HEAR ME contest motivates young people to think about their personal vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Since 2004, the number of entries has surpassed 10,000. A survey of this years contest participants demonstrated that 89% are now more aware of their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, while 88% said they are now more knowledgeable about HIV.

Excerpts from several stories from this years contest are posted in the "STORIES" section of the website. HEAR ME is currently developing a book of stories which will be distributed nationally to schools, government agencies, community groups, and youth service organizations.