The family of Vance North, a young man who died of AIDS in 1995, has given $3.5 million to AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), according to an APLA statement. The endowment, among the largest gifts to a U.S.-based AIDS service organization, will go toward APLA’s HIV prevention work and will provide services for the over 10,000 HIV-positive clients the organization serves annually. In honor of the gift from parents Bob and Lois North, APLA will rename its food pantry network the “Vance North Necessities of Life Program.” The pantry program delivers bags of groceries to low-income Angelenos who live with chronic hunger and HIV/AIDS.

To read the APLA statement, click here.