A tragedy can be turned into a positive.

Penn Hills native Joe Cristina wants people to be aware of that.

"There are times when people have a defining moment. Sometimes, we don't recognize our defining moment," said Mr. Cristina, 53, who now lives in Long Beach, Calif.

Mr. Cristina had his defining moment 15 years ago, when his doctor suggested retirement. At the time, he was an executive at Mattel Inc., in Los Angeles.

"I had my life all planned out. I wanted to be the head of a corporation," he said.

But Mr. Cristina was becoming too ill to handle the demands of the corporate world. He had HIV.

He delivered a resignation to his boss, Jill Barad, then chairman and CEO of the toy company.

"I wanted to leave quietly on disability," Mr. Cristina said.

But Ms. Barad had other ideas.

"You are underestimating the power of what other people can do," she said. "Why don't you take a couple weeks off to think about this."

He did.

"During those two weeks, I received hundreds of letters and calls of support from so many people," Mr. Cristina said. "I sat down and thought of the AIDS children. "How can I channel this energy and support? How can I make a difference in the lives of children?"

So in 1993, with the support of Mattel, he founded Children Affected by AIDS Foundation, which benefits orphans and children who have lost a parent to that disease while raising public awareness. The organization has raised $30 million for children infected and affected by AIDS.

"We touch the lives of 35,000 children every year," said Cathy Brown, president of the foundation, based in Los Angeles.

"We provide funds for the direct support of these children -- food, clothing, medicine, social and recreational activities, trips to camp, outings to the zoo. We bring fun into their lives.

"These kids really need help."

Indeed. In the United States, about 7,000 children are infected and 125,000 are affected by AIDS. Worldwide, the figures are staggering: 2 million are infected, and 15 million are touched by it in some way.

The rate has been dropping in the United States for a number of years, partly due to precautions taken to prevent mother-to-child transmission during pregnancy. But prenatal care and testing are more limited in other countries. In some, even when mothers are tested, there isn't medicine to prevent the prenatal transmission of the virus.

Some offspring of AIDS victims have been on AIDS medications for 18 to 20 years. The long-term effects of that treatment are not known.

The average age of a child in the United States with AIDS is 14. Many of these kids also have mental-health issues. Self esteem is a big problem.

The foundation offers support groups and summer camps to these children, and advises them to tell others about their disease. One child likes to say, "Just because I have HIV doesn't mean you can't hug me!"

Michele Michaels, of Robinson, is a disc jockey on WDVE-FM. She likes to tell people: "I want to tell you about my extraordinary friend, Joey."

She and Mr. Cristina grew up a few streets apart in Penn Hills. They graduated from Penn Hills High School in 1974 and went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

"He would just stay up the entire week during finals," Ms. Michaels said. "He is my most brilliant, overachieving friend!"

The two have remained close.

"He's a financial brain," she said. "His mind is linear and he's a problem solver.

"He looked at [HIV] as a problem he had to solve. He worked for a toy company. He knew about kids. He knew these kids needed help and that he could help them."

After graduating from IUP, Mr. Cristina was hired at Hughes Aircraft Company in Los Angeles. By 25, he was running his own department.

He earned a master's degree in business administration at the University of Southern California in 1982 and was hired by Mattel.

So much in his life changed in 1985. His longtime partner, Armando, became very sick and tested positive for HIV. Mr. Cristina also tested positive for the virus.

"We were devastated and scared," he said. "There was still a social stigma at that time.

"I cared for Armando for 18 months and he died very slowly [at age 33]. It was a horrible experience.

"After the funeral, I redoubled my efforts to reach the top of the corporate ladder. Two years later, my second partner, David, died of HIV. He was also 33 and he died fasted than Armando."

Mr. Cristina paused.

"I took a trip to see the National AIDS Memorial Quilt in Washington, D.C., in 1993. I cried when I saw Armando's quilt. It represented his life. I looked at panel after panel and it was overwhelming. At that point I realized that I needed to do something."

He has drawn closer to his younger sister, Lisa Giacchino of Murrysville, a real estate agent. She was 5 when he went to college and 9 when he moved to California, so they weren't close when she was young.

"When Joe was diagnosed with HIV, everyone in the family pulled together," she said. "It was a wakeup of what life really was for us. At that time, I was 16.

"Joe became amazing to me because he lived his life as if nothing was wrong."

"He lost two partners and that was devastating. A few years ago, I lost my husband and Joe pulled me through. He sees a solution to things that seem like a problem to everyone else."

She said that when her brother started the foundation, "I don't think it was a surprise to my family. This just seems like what he would do."

"He is horribly sick at times, yet he is traveling to Brazil for CAAF! That's just who he is and what he is supposed to do."

Mr. Cristina has an older sister, Robin Flaherty, who owns JoJo's, a restaurant at 110 24th Street in the Strip District.

"Joe has always been very smart and at the top of his class," she remembered. "He was the first one in the family to attend college.

"He is always making us laugh and is a positive person. It's amazing that he can do this with his life.

"One poor child and her adorable family in Brazil had to leave their home due to HIV. They live in a hut now. Joey took the child for a haircut.

"These things are just Joey."

Mattel provided the initial funding for the foundation. Funding also is provided by Toys R Us, Walt Disney, Nickelodeon, and the MAC AIDS Fund.

The foundation also holds major fund-raisers such as Dream Halloween and A Night of Comedy.

A Starbucks "The Way I See It Cup" bears a message from a Mr. Cristina.

"Worldwide, nearly 40 million people are living with HIV and AIDS. Over 13 million children have been orphaned due to AIDS. Six hundred thousand children are infected with HIV each year. And 25 years into the AIDS pandemic, no vaccine or cure is in sight. The numbers speak for themselves. What are you doing to help?"

-- Joe Cristina, founder of the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation"