I have worked for Cathy and Friends-Together since 2005. I started working in this organization and public health by helping educate students on tobacco awareness, domestic violence, sexual health, STIs, and healthy life choices. Now, I am also helping with outreach, donations, and social media.

I have met some truly incredible and inspiring people through this organization. We are a large family of misfits that never judge, only love & accept each other while doing our part to change the world for the better. Everyone is truly valued for their strengths and differences. Organizations like Friends-Together are a once in a lifetime opportunity and I have been truly blessed to be a part of this family since 2005. As a public health worker, my hope is that we can all accomplish things that make the world better. We hope you can join us as we truly try to do just that.

When I clicked on a donate button on GoFundMe for the 2017 Tanzania Relief trip, I had no idea
Friends Together and Cathy would have such an impact on my life.

After visiting the Friends Together website and StraightTalkWithCathy.com I had to get involved.
I have been in video production since 1983 and have come to a point in my life where I can donate my craft to help others. There is no better way to share the people and experiences in Tanzania other than moving pictures.
Cathy, Garrett, and the other volunteer’s commitment to helping others is the perfect example of
unselfishness. Cathy is an amazing woman who has overcome so many harsh obstacles in life and she always has a smile on her face.

As a video producer, I try to distance myself from the subject matter. In Tanzania, I became
Immersed with the cause of empowering HIV positive women and their children. I have seen poverty in third world countries before but not the volume of extreme poverty and hunger among women and children that I saw in Tanzania.

Our 3 current goals for solar lights, reusable sanitary pads and the construction of the Friends
Together Tailoring School at TAFCOM is my priority.

Empowering these women and their children has become a focus in my life.

Hello, My name is Ken Bargar, 51 and Volunteer Coordinator with Friends Together. I was fortunate to have been involved with Friends Together since its inception. I have attended every camp but one. Watching the kids grow up and learn from us about how to live with this disease and to know that others out there were like them was the best experience of my life! They made lifelong friends and are still talking with most of them via e-mails, texts or social media. Our camps have been educational, fun and entertaining for all of us. We have been through many happy times as well as a few sad ones. We have always been there for each other and I think some of us are better people for it. I have made both (2) trips to Africa with Friends Together to take supplies, educate and learn from them, memories I will never forget. I hope you can take some time out of your busy life to join us.... We can always use good volunteers too!

My name is Butch McKay and I am 69 years old. I am the Executive Director of Okaloosa AIDS Support and Informational Services, Inc. (OASIS) In Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. I have had the great joy of knowing and working with Cathy for many years. She has been a great mentor along with her family. I feel Iike Lindsay and Garrett are my niece and nephew. I was also privileged to know Steve who felt like a brother and treated me as one. I had heard so many wonderful things about the Friends-Together Camps and finally had an opportunity to participate in a camp gathering that was a mind opening experience on the value of family support and love. HIV does not define people, people define HIV and the ways it impacts them. The camp experience made me realize the different ways people approach life, once they find empowerment and support. The people I met and interacted with did not dwell on a disease, they were too busy living. I was so saddened when Cathy had to let the camps go, noticing a void in her heartfelt by us all. Later I had the opportunity to travel with Cathy and Garrett and others to Tanzania where my heart was forced to deal with every emotion known to man. At first, it broke and I wept at the unbelievable poverty that surrounded me, the thousands of orphans left to become breadwinners and caregivers for their siblings. I felt anger toward the world for the lack of medical care and education I witnessed. But forget the negative feelings, I left with the most positive gift. The people of Tanzania are a gift to the heart. They are gentle, loving, caring, responsible people eager to share, destined to love. Where I saw poverty, they saw the opportunity to share and to love. They taught me the spirit of the human heart and the strength born within the community. They were ONE and invited me in. The same is true of Family-Together, we are ONE and you are invited in. I‘m excited for Cathy and her family, but more excited that this powerful love story we call Friends-Together is available for all of us to experience. Don’t pass up this opportunity, become part of the Family.