Get AIDS Walk off on right foot

Every September, thousands of volunteers join the annual Delaware AIDS Walk to raise money and awareness of the HIV/AIDS problem.

As Delaware continues to rank among the states with the highest rate of new infections, organizers at AIDS Delaware say they are getting a head start on recruiting teams for this fall's event.

Recruitment of teams for this year begins April 25 with an AIDS Walk Kick-off Breakfast.
"This is a free breakfast to get individuals engaged in forming teams for the upcoming AIDS Walk," said Frank Hawkins, associate director of AIDS Delaware.

Because of recruiting efforts and widespread community support, AIDS walks held in Delaware are bucking a national trend of diminishing participating and fundraising, according to the nonprofit AIDS Delaware.

Executive Director John D. Baker said there are about 3,450 Delawareans now living with HIV/AIDS and about 3,500 have died of related causes since the epidemic began more than 25 years ago.

"Delaware continues to be in the top five for per-capita HIV/AIDS cases," he said, "and because we are in the middle of this high-incidence region between Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York we must remain ever-vigilant because the HIV virus knows no boundaries and is a risk for us all."

Among the newest trends, Baker said, heterosexual females have become the fastest growing group, with males and females 50 and older continuing to grow at 18 percent of new infections, and youth continuing to comprise half of new infections. Infection trends have prompted the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to recommend that doctors make HIV tests part of patients' regular annual screenings.

The annual AIDS Walk is "one of Delaware's largest collaborative events," Baker said.

"The AIDS Walk Delaware occurs in each county and -- along with AIDS Delaware and the Delaware HIV Consortium -- has over 20 AIDS service organizations and churches with HIV programs raising funds together to provide Delawareans with the best prevention education programming and services possible," Baker said.

With last year marking its 20th event, the walk began as a grass-roots memorial to remember loved ones lost in the AIDS epidemic. Over its two decades, however, the walk has shed its somber tone and grown into a celebration of life, focusing on helping those living with HIV/AIDS and to preventing future infections.

Those lost to AIDS continue to be remembered each year in the walk's tradition of participants dropping flowers from a Brandywine Park bridge into the waters of the Brandywine.

Hawkins encourages workplace organizations, community groups, churches and other faith groups as well as individuals to field teams for the event that generates money for education and prevention, as well as services for affected Delawareans and their families statewide.

The breakfast, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., will be held at the Francis X. Norton Center, 917 N. Madison St., Wilmington.

Anyone interested in attending should call Hawkins or Darcy Brasure at AIDS Delaware at 652-6776.

Community groups and businesses also are sought to become event sponsors at a variety of donation levels, and organizers also seek donors of flowers for the memorial drop, as well as raffle and fundraising prizes.

Sponsors also are sought for water stations along the 5-kilometer walk route and to donate food and beverages for participants.