"low-key'', central office.

The AIDS-support group must vacate its Angle Street headquarters in Hamilton by April when the building -- facing Dellwood Primary School -- is due to be demolished.

Mrs. Armstrong said she hoped response to the appeal will be as positive as the public's response to STAR's Lighthouse, a home in Smith's Parish for those infected with the AIDS virus.

The Lighthouse, which opened about two years ago and has had several of its residents pass on, now has four male and two female HIV-infected occupants.

"People are responding well to the Lighthouse in terms of volunteering,'' she said. "Residents are not just feeling cared for, but cared about.'' Mrs. Armstrong added that public support for the infected residents' children has also been "overwhelming''.

In addition to sending gifts at Christmas, some people have shown interest in the children throughout the year.

"We're very happy about people who have expressed interest in participating in these children's lives,'' she said. "People are starting to pick up on the sensitivity, not just at Christmas, but all year round.'' But due to the residents' ongoing needs, Mrs. Armstrong said STAR is always in need of financing, particularly for expensive medications that are not stocked at the hospital.

Residents, who are encouraged to be as independent as possible, can also use part-time jobs, she said.

"Once the business sector becomes sensitive to education about AIDS, they will realise that they are not at risk from the person with AIDS, neither is the person with AIDS at risk from them.'' Both STAR and the Island's other AIDS-support group, the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation, conduct AIDS education courses in the workplace at companies' requests, Mrs. Armstrong pointed out.

"There are folk in the AIDS community who are very skilled, and while they cannot work full-time, they can take on part-time work.'' Working will not only help infected people financially, she added, it will also improve their lives.

"We have some folks who have been pounding the pavement, looking for work.

This is not only exhausting physically, but emotionally draining and frustrating,'' she said.

"To be sitting at home hours on end is very depressing. They just need an outlet.'' Anyone interested in helping STAR find office space and/or helping the Lighthouse residents find work can call STAR at 292-5941 or the Lighthouse at 293-4967.