PITTSBURGH (AP) – Faced with recent declines in participation and missed fund-raising goals, organizers of the Pittsburgh AIDS Walk said this will be the last year for the walk.

The Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force blames competition from other charity walks, a tight economy and a decreasing level of attention being paid to AIDS, challenges also being cited by organizers in other cities.

In its strong years, several thousand people participated in the Pittsburgh Aids Walk and in its best year – 1999 – it raised $250,000 for AIDS related services from education and prevention to housing and legal assistance. Last year’s walk on a rain-soaked June day drew just 800 people and fell far short of its $200,000 goal.

“When you think about all the time and resources that we spend on this, and you only come up with around $56,000 it just doesn’t make [financial] sense,” said Gina Focareta, spokeswoman for the task force. The walk actually raised about $86,000, but cost about $30,000 to put on; a follow-up campaign appealing to walkers who didn’t participate because of the weather raised another $33,000.

AIDS walks in other cities have been grappling with fluctuating participation, although some, like one in New York City, are still going strong.

“We’ve heard other cities have not done as well over the years, but we have, thank God, and it represents over 20 percent of our budget,” said Lynn Schulman, spokeswoman for Gay Men’s Health Crisis. AIDS Walk New York on May 16 raised a record $5.4 million.

The AIDS Foundation of Miami Valley in Ohio canceled its 2002 walk in Dayton, but brought it back last year, although proceeds were down by 20 percent. This year, it’s scheduled for September, but William Hardy, the foundation’s executive director, wonders about its future.

“AIDS walks simply are not garnering the kinds of public support they did 10 or 20 years ago,” he said. “All special events have a shelf life and everybody and their cousin is having some kind of walk.”

Organizers in other cities report fund-raising has been down from high years, but vow to continue with the walks.

“We’re nowhere near topping a million [dollars] like we did in the late ’90s,” said Jackie Long, spokeswoman for Colorado Aids Project and AIDS Walk Colorado. Still, she said, the walk is a strong fundraiser and the 17th annual walk is expected to meet its $700,000 goal in August.

“A lot of the AIDS walks are smaller than they were 10 years ago and I think that does relate to the fact that we don’t see celebrities dying like we did,” said Tim Turnham, director of development for the Whitman Walker Clinic in Washington, D.C., which sponsors AIDS Walk Washington.

Turnham said the walk has recently been growing after declines. Turnham admits that if the clinic were anywhere other than the nation’s capital, it may have ended its walk, but that the location is too important politically.

“We feel that if we canceled the Washington, D.C. AIDS walk, it might have a spillover effect on other AIDS walks,” he said.

Organizers said the walks keep the issue visible in the face of misconceptions that AIDS is no longer a crisis. “Certainly, people’s awareness about HIV and AIDS is not where it was a decade ago,” said Robb Reichard, executive director of AIDS Fund, which sponsors AIDSWalkPhilly.

“Fundraising in today’s climate is certainly a struggle. However, AIDSWalk for us continues to be a large source of our funding,” he said.

Craig Miller, president of MZA Events Inc., which produced the first AIDS walk, in Los Angeles, and also produces walks in New York, San Francisco and other cities, said organizers must be creative.

“There is no doubt that it is more difficult today to engage the public in the fight against HIV than it once was,” he said. “There’s a difference between tough and impossible.”

While the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force hasn’t decided what’s next, events like a dance marathon or basketball tournament are being considered. This year’s walk, called “A Push Towards The Finish” will be held June 6.