Our Story

UGA HEROs was created from the vision of two students who had separate experiences working with AIDS orphans internationally. Former student body president Garrett Gravesen lived in Kenya during his final summer before graduation, where he witnessed one of the children with whom he worked lose his battle with AIDS. Later, AISEC UGA President Ryan Gembala spent time in Brazil at an AIDS orphanage and worked with children there for a summer. The two UGA students came together before graduating and created the concept that became UGA HEROs – an organization whose purpose is to raise money for children in the state of Georgia affected by HIV/AIDS. HEROs would become UGA’s first on-campus fall philanthropy.

Gravesen and Gembala later went on to create H.E.R.O. for Children, Inc. in 2003 – the only non-profit organization in the state of Georgia dedicated solely to improving the quality of life for children infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS. H.E.R.O. has also developed Georgia’s only mentoring program for children with HIV/AIDS.