Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report Rounds Up Coverage of AIDS Walk Events Nationwide
Several cities across the U.S. last weekend held AIDS walks to raise awareness of the disease and funds to fight it. Summaries of the events in some cities appear below:
- Atlanta: More than 14,000 people participated in Atlanta's 15th annual AIDS Walk Atlanta on Sunday. The walk was three miles long, and the event's sponsor, AID Atlanta, hoped to raise $1 million (Simmons, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/17). Other local organizations that work with nearly 27,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Georgia benefited from funds raised from the walk, including AIDGwinnett, AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta, AIDS Survival Project, AIDS Treatment Initiatives, Atlanta Interfaith AIDS Network, Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta and Project Open Hand (Cauley, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 10/13).
- Austin, Texas: About 5,000 people participated in the 18th annual AIDS Walk in Austin on Sunday. Event sponsor AIDS Services of Austin aimed to raise $175,000. The event included a street fair, featuring local social service agencies and vendors and a live band (Hill, Austin American-Statesman, 10/17).
- Evansville, Ind.: The Southwestern Indiana AIDS Walk on Saturday aimed to raise $20,000 for the Evansville-based AIDS Resource Group, which provides services for low income HIV-positive people in 11 Southwestern Indiana counties and outreach work to more than 2,000 people annually (Reynolds, Evansville Courier & Press, 10/15).
- Los Angeles: As many as 25,000 people attended AIDS Walk Los Angeles, which was held for the 21st year on Sunday. About 1,000 corporate and community teams participated in the event, which raised more than $3 million. A group of teens, called Kids Who Care, from 10 private schools in the Los Angeles area who have raised more than $500,000 for AIDS organizations over the past 15 years raised $55,000 for the event (Hayasaki, Los Angeles Times, 10/17). Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was scheduled to attend the event, along with several prominent entertainers (AIDS Walk Los Angeles release, 10/13).
- Philadelphia: About 20,000 people on Sunday took part in the 19th annual AIDS Walk Philly, which raised $450,000 for prevention, education and treatment. The event for the first time offered a free rapid HIV test, and results were available in 30 minutes. The AIDS Fund of Philadelphia sponsored the 12-kilometer walk (Bewley, Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/17).
- Tucson, Ariz.: The 17th annual AIDSWALK in Tucson on Sunday benefited the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation and aimed to have between 4,000 and 5,000 participants and raise $247,000 (Hunsperger, Tucson Citizen, 10/11).