Robert Duncan McNeill ("Tom Paris" in Star Trek: Voyager) is trading in the Delta Flyer for a bicycle to make a week-long trek through California to draw attention to the ongoing AIDS crisis.

McNeill will participate in this year's California AIDSRide, taking place June 2-8 to raise funds for California agencies providing services to those dealing with HIV and AIDS. On his official website, www.robertduncanmcneill.net, the actor/director is asking fans and friends to support his effort to help persons affected by the AIDS epidemic by sponsoring him in his 575-mile bike ride.

"I am riding not just for those facing this disease right now, but in memory of my own dear friends who I have lost," McNeill says in a letter posted on his site. "We all have been touched directly or indirectly by this disease. That's why I'm taking this journey."

As a way of saying thanks to his financial sponsors, McNeill will provide an autographed photo of himself on the journey between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Donations can be made online through BeThePeople.com, or by mail with a downloadable donation form. More information, including how to correctly attribute your sponsorship, is available on McNeill's site at this link. Funds will go to provide direct medical, social and legal services to people with HIV and AIDS across California.

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