amongst all my duck-travels…
I connected and spiritually bonded with Pam Rahn,
the Program Coordinator of the
STEPPING STONE PREVENTION PROGRAM
(the alcohol prevention outreach of Stepping Stone, San Diego,
a drug and alcohol recovery agency for the LGBT Community.)
 


in 1993 I was commissioned to design a social-marketing campaign called
“DON’T DUCK RESPONSIBILITY!”
this whimsical approach was created to address the often overlooked link
between alcohol use/abuse and HIV transmission/progression.
 
this message went out into the LGBT Community
(Community Events, Pride Parades etc)
in the form of posters, t-shirts 
along with awareness workshops and presentations.
we were invited to participate in many health fairs
within the Community as well as those at
Universities and Colleges through out Southern California.

working very passionately together for three years,
Pam and I playfully and professionally challenged
Community attitudes and self-destructive behaviors. 
not an easy task but a necessary one!

When Pam left in early 1996 to harmonize with the trees of Oregon,
I stepped into Stepping Stone as the program/campaign coordinator 
for the next phase of the program .

 
here i am with Pam struttin' our feathers down the boulevard 
during our annual Pride Parade


adorable in silhouette, 
here I am with my faithful and endearing assistant, Loran Thompson 
at our annual AIDS WALK outreach booth.
 
the campaign soon expanded as a pilot program through a grant offered by
CAPS - Center for AIDS Prevention Studies of the UCSF 
(University of California at San Francisco)
in collaboration with SDSU (San Diego State University) 
and UCSD (University of California at San Diego)
taking the “DON’T DUCK RESPONSIBILITY” message
 more directly into San Diego Gay bars
to effectively outreach to the LGBT Community.