San Diego’s 17th annual AIDS Walk, the city’s largest single-day donation-based fund-raiser for HIV/AIDS support and research in San Diego County, will take place Sunday, Oct. 1, in Balboa Park.

Established in 1989, the walk was originally created to help fund a few care and prevention programs, but has since grown to include dozens of agencies serving thousands of adults and children living with HIV/AIDS.

Participants in the walk can choose to complete the 5-kilometer walk or the 10-kilometer USA Track & Field-sanctioned run. Both events begin shortly after 8:00 a.m. on Oct. 1.

More than 12,000 people are estimated to gather in Balboa Park to carry on the tradition and show their support for the numerous men, women and children living with or affected by HIV/AIDS. Last year, more than 25 San Diego-based organizations received funding from the walk.

One of the beneficiaries of AIDS WALK San Diego is Mama’s Kitchen, a local meal-delivery service for people with HIV/AIDS that supplies three meals a day every day of the year in the San Diego area. Mama’s Kitchen received its first grant from AIDS Walk in 1992, a $3,500 contribution that represented a significant amount for an organization with a $104,000 annual budget.

“The early gifts from AIDS Walk San Diego helped give us credibility when we asked for other grants throughout the community,” said Alberto Cortés, executive director of Mama’s Kitchen. “So it would not be an overstatement to say that [those] grants helped Mama’s Kitchen grow into the organization that we are today.”

Last year, Mama’s Kitchen reported a staff of 11, a volunteer base of 575, an average of 877 meals delivered a day, almost 261,000 meals delivered in 2005 and more than 3 million meals delivered to AIDS patients since their inception in 1990.

“The assistance of AIDS Walk San Diego helps provide a base of support that is vital for Mama’s Kitchen when we make budget assumptions for the coming year.” Cortés said. “And the grants have helped to convince many other foundations to lend their support, knowing that we had already raised a significant sum from other sources.”

Another local nonprofit organization that benefits from AIDS Walk is Christie’s Place, a support and services center for women, children and families who have been impacted by HIV/AIDS. Last year, Christie’s Place received more than 7,600 visits, provided more than 1,000 counseling sessions facilitated by a licensed professional and provided more than 2,500 hours of child care. In addition, Christie’s Place staff and volunteers also provided roughly 3,000 referrals to additional community resources.

“Continued support from AIDS Walk San Diego has enabled Christie’s Place to provide a peer/family advocacy-based support program, which is one of the most effective intervention programs for HIV/AIDS,” said Liz Brosnan, executive director of Christie’s Place, adding, “our caseload continues to climb each year, and without the financial support of AIDS Walk San Diego we would have to turn people away from our life-enhancing services.”

Since 2000, Christie’s Place has received $81,337 from AIDS Walk, including $15,000 in 2005.

CASA (Coordinated Assistance Services and Advocacy) South Bay is a program of the San Ysidro Health Center (SYHC), and has been partially funded by AIDS Walk San Diego since 1999.

The mission of CASA South Bay is to offer, in partnership with other HIV/AIDS service providers, a total continuum of care. To that end, CASA is a one-stop coordinated services center dedicated to people living with HIV/AIDS and their families.

“CASA offers an array of culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate medical and social support services to our clients and their family members in a warm, friendly and caring environment,” said Rosana Scolari, director of HIV Services for the San Ysidro Health Center.

Currently, CASA South Bay provides and/or coordinates more than 15 social support services, including case management, outreach, HIV testing, peer advocacy, food services, mental health counseling, legal services, substance abuse counseling, housing information and hygienic product distribution. They also maintain a variety of groups including prevention with positives, art therapy and a Spanish support group. Additionally, CASA South Bay coordinates access to SYHC’s HIV specialty medical care, HIV nutrition counseling and treatment adherence counseling.

Each month, more than 600 clients and family members access services at CASA. On average, six to seven newly-diagnosed HIV-positive clients access CASA services each month.

Since 1999, the San Ysidro Health Center and its CASA South Bay program have received $83,360 from AIDS Walk. Last year, they received $13,000 to implement their newly developed Amigos de CASA Program, a peer-based educational and social support program developed to assist newly diagnosed clients to access the array of HIV medical and social support services available onsite or through referral.

“AIDS Walk funding has enabled SYHC’s CASA to develop creative, innovative and responsive programs that have helped to improve the health, well-being and overall the quality of life for the clients we serve in South Bay,” Scolari said.

AIDS Walk San Diego, a program of The Center, a is a 501c3 nonprofit that this year is partially funded by donations from Nordstrom, BD Biosciences, AIDS Foundation San Diego, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, SDGE, Qualcomm, Gilead Sciences, Gen-Probe Molecular Technologies, Priority Pharmacy, KSWB Channel 5, Buzz magazine and the Gay & Lesbian Times.

There are five ways to participate in 2006 AIDS Walk San Diego: form a team and participate in the 5K walk or 10K run, ask people to donate, spread awareness of the event, identify potential donors and sponsors, and/or volunteer for the event.

For more information, call (619) 291-WALK, e-mail info@aidswalksd.org or visit www.aidswalksd.org.