Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) October 6, 2005
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will proclaim October 16, 2005 to be AIDS Walk Los Angeles Day. On that day, more than 25,000 people from across the Los Angeles metropolitan area are expected to hit the streets to raise money for AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) and other local AIDS service organizations.
âLos Angeles County is proud to support AIDS Walk Los Angeles. Although we have come a long way since the days when AIDS first began afflicting our community, we must continue working toward a cure,â said Los Angeles Board of Supervisors Chair Gloria Molina. âIt is my hope that residents from across the county will participate in AIDS Walk Los Angeles and help bring attention to this cause.â
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are now more than one million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and 40,000 additional people are infected each year. In Los Angeles, between 54,000 and 57,000 people are living with HIV or AIDS, enough to fill Dodger Stadium. More than 2,000 people become newly infected each year, and one out of five people with HIV in Los Angeles do not know they are infected.
âWe are grateful to the Board of Supervisors for recognizing the power of AIDS Walk Los Angeles,â said Craig E. Thompson, executive director of APLA. âWe hope that on this day â and every day â Angelenos will remember their friends and neighbors living with HIV/AIDS and take steps to assure adequate attention and funding for the services they need to stay alive.â
For the first time in its history, APLA will provide cash grants to HIV/AIDS organizations outside of Los Angeles County. The grants will be allocated to three organizations affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: AIDS Alabama, Montrose Clinic of Houston, and NO/AIDS Task Force of New Orleans, which was forced to cancel its own AIDS Walk scheduled for September 25.
âMore than twenty years ago the people of Los Angeles set a standard for caring and compassionate action that has grown into one of the most powerful forces in the fight against AIDS,â said AIDS Walk Founder Craig Miller. âEach and every year since then, our community has shown a deep and personal understanding of how important it is to end the AIDS epidemic.â
AIDS Walk Los Angeles is Southern Californiaâs largest HIV/AIDS fundraising event and has raised more than $ 50 million for APLA and other local AIDS organizations. This yearâs VIPs and celebrity guests include Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Roma Maffia (Nip/Tuck), Rita Moreno (West Side Story, OZ), Kathy Najimy (The Kathy and Mo Show), Jai Rodriguez (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy), Hal Sparks (Queer as Folk), John Spencer (The West Wing), Bruce Vilanch (Hairspray), and others. The AIDS Walk begins and ends at San Vicente Boulevard, between Melrose Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard, in West Hollywood. The 10K (6.2 mile) route passes through the streets of West Hollywood and Los Angeles.
AIDS Walk Los Angeles is supported by the generous gifts of corporations and individuals, including Wells Fargo, Hilton Family of Hotels, Marilyn & Jeffrey Katzenberg, NBC-4, Telemundo, Paramount Studios, Robinsons-May, United Airlines, Clear Channel Radio and Oakwood Corporate Housing. Created and produced by Craig R. Miller / MZA Events, AIDS Walk Los Angeles drew more than 25,000 people and raised nearly $ 2.9 million in 2004.
To make a tax-deductible contribution to AIDS Walk Los Angeles, please call 213-201-WALK (9255) or visit www.aidswalk.net.
AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), one of the largest non-profit AIDS service organizations in the United States, provides bilingual direct services, prevention education and leadership on HIV/AIDS-related policy and legislation. Founded by four friends in 1982, APLA is a community-based, volunteer-supported organization with local, national and global reach. For more information, visit www.apla.org.
AIDS Walk Los Angeles was founded in 1985 by Craig R. Miller and his organization of activists, MZA Events. Miller is the originator of the AIDS Walk fundraising model and has raised nearly $ 300 million for leading AIDS charities nationwide. Miller and MZA have produced this landmark event benefiting APLA for the past 21 years.
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