Where else can one have fun with friends, get a good workout and benefit a good cause? Join nearly 12,000 San Diegans in their fight against HIV/AIDS for AIDS Walk San Diego, taking place on Sunday, Oct.1, located in beautiful Balboa Park.

Despite the extensive educational and outreach support in the county, San Diego still has a high number of people infected with HIV/AIDS; we have the third-highest number of AIDS cases in the state of California. Nearly 13,000 cases have been reported in San Diego County as of December 2005.

Since the first cases of AIDS were reported in 1981, infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has grown to pandemic proportions, resulting in an estimated 65 million infections and 25 million deaths internationally, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2006, more than 1 million people are reportedly living with HIV/AIDS in the United States, and an estimated 40,000 new HIV infections are expected to occur this year.

While there is still no cure for HIV/AIDS, efforts are being made on the home front to help those who suffer from the disease and educate the community about its effects. AIDS Walk San Diego is one of these organizations.

Established in 1989, AIDS Walk San Diego is San Diego’s largest one-day HIV/AIDS fund-raiser and is the largest nongovernmental financial provider for HIV/AIDS in San Diego County. Dozens of agencies serving thousands of clients rely on funds raised at the annual walk to help provide essential prevention and care programs to thousands of men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS.

This year is AIDS Walk’s 17th in San Diego. In 2002, The Center was asked to produce the event in an attempt to save money and return funds back to the community it dutifully supports.

“We are happy to say that by streamlining expenses and increasing the event’s visibility throughout the county, thus increasing the number of participants [registrants, walkers and teams], we are netting more money than ever before, and thus more money has been distributed to dozens of HIV/AIDS service providers throughout the county,” said Jennifer Jones, development director for The Center.

AIDS Walk San Diego has made leaps and bounds this year, pummeling beyond its financial and volunteer goals from last year.

“We are ahead of where we were in 2005 [regarding] the number of registrants, teams, sponsors and total dollars raised,” Jones said. “Our goal is to exceed the amount disbursed in 2005, which was just over $350,000.”

While some federal funding is available to local HIV/AIDS organizations and support services, many local groups would suffer without the grants offered by the walk.

“Federal funding provided through the Ryan White CARE Act provides medical care to uninsured people living with HIV/AIDS,” Jones said. “With the loss of over $1.6 million of Ryan White Care Act funding in San Diego over the past two years, the money raised at AIDS Walk San Diego is critical to those living with HIV/AIDS within our community and the agencies that serve them.”

AIDS Walk San Diego wouldn’t exist without the assistance and commitment of corporate sponsors, fund-raisers and volunteers. It is with their support that AIDS Walk San Diego has kept going strong into its 17th year, and corporate sponsorships for the walk have increased in 2006.

AIDS Walk San Diego has accumulated a long list of cash sponsors, including BD Biosciences, Pfizer, AIDS Foundation San Diego, Qualcomm, Sempra Energy, Nordstrom, GenProbe and Gilead.

“We are so grateful to them for their generosity,” Jones said. “These corporations understand how important their support is to the thousands of men, women and children impacted by HIV/AIDS in San Diego County.”

“The sponsorship reflects our commitment to San Diego, and in particular to supporting the thousands of San Diegans affected by HIV and AIDS,” said Allison Kelly, manager of corporate giving at Qualcomm.

“Our Grand Level sponsorship is just one indication of BD Biosciences’ dedication to preventing, diagnosing, monitoring and researching HIV and AIDS,” said Allison Bean, chair of the BD Biosciences Charitable Contributions Committee. We are committed to supporting people living with this disease as we all work toward and hope for a cure.”

Sponsors do more than just give money to the noble cause. These active groups and individuals also get involved on the ground level.

“Every single one of these agencies not only funds the event but they organize teams and mobilize hundreds of employees to register and participate in the walk,” Jones said. “That kind of commitment and dedication is what fuels our efforts. Without their support, we would not be successful.”

In the same way HIV/AIDS defies age, race, class and sexual orientation, those participating in AIDS Walk come from all walks of life. Teams range from small and large corporations to businesses, nonprofit organizations and faith groups.

“You will see infants in strollers in the walk alongside parents, grandparents and even great-grandparents,” Jones added.

Many would agree it takes a village to raise a child. That may be the same for our own community. In San Diego, it takes the community to raise AIDS Walk. Without the help of dedicated individuals and groups, this annual event would not exist, let alone produce as much money to give back to our community.

One of these star players is Jon Mize, AIDS Walk San Diego’s top fund-raiser this year, who raised more than $6,100 for the cause. Mize is a longtime resident of San Diego but is new to the walk.

“This is the first year I’ve gotten involved in the AIDS Walk,” Mize said. “I’ve wanted to get involved more in volunteering, and this is just such a great cause that I couldn’t pass it up.”

Mize has gained a majority of his financial support from his company, which has been more than willing to give to AIDS Walk.

“I think that it’s really sad that in the year 2006 we still have no cure for AIDS,” Mize said. “It’s up to us average Joes to do the [government’s] job for them. I know that I could help at least one person, and that makes it all worthwhile.”

Mize is walking with Team Alpha Project for the Homeless (www.alphaproject.org).

Steve Wendt is the team leader from one of AIDS Walk San Diego’s sponsors, Qualcomm.

“I have been walking for about seven or eight years now,” he said. “I have lost countless friends to the disease over the years and was myself confirmed HIV-positive in 1989.”

Wendt has pushed onward for years, and this year brought in his company to take a more active role in the walk. Co-workers have aided in the cause by making donations, signing up for the Qualcomm Team, putting up posters in the break rooms and copy rooms, and talking to friends and family.

“This disease has impacted my life unlike anything else,” Wendt said. “I do this to help those currently struggling with the disease and to remember everyone who has gone before me.”

For the past 16 years, San Diego AIDS Walk has helped unite our community in a collective fight against HIV. In a team effort, AIDS Walk has helped raise considerable funds for San Diego area HIV/AIDS organizations that serve those affected with the disease.

More than 25 organizations benefited from the funds raised in the walk in 2005 alone, and AIDS Walk participants make a world of difference to these organizations and the thousands of people they serve.

Since its founding in 1996, Christie’s Place has been a faithful recipient of funding from the event. Christie’s Place is a support and services center for women, children and families who have been impacted by the HIV virus. This organization reaches out to those at the greatest risk: HIV/AIDS is the third leading cause of death among women ages 25-44 and the leading cause of death among African-American women within this age group.

Christie’s Place has received more than 7,600 visits and provided more than 1,000 counseling sessions facilitated by a licensed professional in the past year alone. This integral part of our San Diego community offers its own support groups in addition to providing referrals to other community resources, and Christie’s Place relies on the financial support of the annual San Diego AIDS Walk to achieve its astonishing level of service and outreach year after year.

“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 interventions program for HIV/AIDS,” said Liz Brosnan, executive director of Christie’s Place. “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.”

Christie’s Place is open Monday through Friday. Call (619) 702-4186 or visit www.christiesplace.org for more information.

Since its founding in 1990, AIDS Walk San Diego has supported Mama’s Kitchen, which makes a difference in the lives of thousands of San Diegans by providing three meals a day, every day to people living with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses.

“Our clients tell us that our reliability is what makes us most unique, and this is important because good nutrition in the face of life-threatening illness can make the difference between life and death,” said Alberto Cortés, executive director of Mama’s Kitchen.

One of the largest supporters of the HIV/AIDS population in the county, Mama’s Kitchen owes much of its success and growth to the funds it receives from AIDS Walk.

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

With each dollar, Mama’s Kitchen continues to give back to the community through its meals program.

“We would love to expand all our programs, but especially our home-delivered meals program that supplies over 260,000 meals to people affected by AIDS,” Cortés said. “We know there are people in the San Diego region who are living with AIDS and need our nutritional assistance, but for whatever reason they have never applied.”

Mama’s Kitchen has participated faithfully in AIDS Walk San Diego since the early ’90s, each year raising around $1,000 for the cause. The team consists of volunteers, board members and staff, who are geared up and giving their all for the cause they support each day.

“We always look forward to a fun-filled day at the walk, with lots of friends, their children and pets in tow, and knowing that we are helping people with AIDS,” Cortés said.

“AIDS Walk is a tradition at Mama’s Kitchen,” he added. “It’s one of those activities that is consistent in changing times. We remember the past, including all the dear friends, family members and colleagues lost to AIDS, as well as responding to the current needs and challenges of people living with AIDS today.”

Mama’s Kitchen delivers meals to those in need three times a day, seven days a week. For more information, call (619) 233-6262 or visit www.mamaskitchen.org.

CASA (Coordinated Assistance Services and Advocacy) South Bay is a program of the San Ysidro Health Center (SYHC). 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 a warm, supportive, home-like setting to encourage social interaction and the development of peer-based support networks.

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

“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.

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

“AIDS Walk 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.

For more information about CASA South Bay and its programs, call (619) 662-4161 or visit www.syhc.org.

All monies raised for AIDS Walk San Diego are administered by the Alliance Healthcare Foundation/HIV Funding Collaborative, and the funds are granted to various HIV/AIDS service providers across San Diego County.

The Center has run AIDS Walk San Diego for the past two years, making leaps and bounds beyond the financial and participation goals of previous years. They administer the walk from beginning to end, and even register their own team for the event.

Despite their success, The Center faces many challenges in organizing AIDS Walk San Diego each year.

“It’s all about increasing awareness; reminding the broader community that there is still no cure for HIV,” The Center’s Jones said. “The number of people living with AIDS has increased, and HIV incidence rates are rising among men and women of color.”

HIV/AIDS awareness is ones of the largest hurdles The Center must clear.

“The biggest challenge is the perception that AIDS is not a big deal anymore,” Jones said. “People aren’t dying at the same levels as they were pre-cocktail and so there is less fear. And, unfortunately, less fear equals riskier behavior.”

As with any nonprofit organization or grassroots cause, The Center and its HIV/AIDS programs struggle to maintain funding.

“Prevention and education programs have taken the biggest hit, so agencies aren’t able to do the kind of prevention, education and outreach necessary to keep HIV incidence rates low,” Jones said.

The Center offers a number of programs and groups to those suffering from HIV/AIDS, ranging from adults, children and teens to the families of those infected.

The Center’s Health Services: Being diagnosed with HIV is a significant, life-altering experience, and The Center’s Health Services offers counseling designed to provide HIV/AIDS-infected and -affected clients with free individual, couples, family and group counseling interventions. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (619) 260-6380 or stop by The Center’s Health Services building at 2313 El Cajon Blvd.

In the Mix: A collaboration between The Center and Family Health Centers of San Diego, In the Mix is an innovative program targeting young men of color in the San Diego region who have sex with other men. The program utilizes community-based and community-focused interventions coupled with strong leadership development to engage young men of color to become instrumental in reducing the spread of HIV. Specific components include outreach, discussion groups, peer education and recruitment of popular opinion leaders.

Positive Action: Positive Action is an HIV-prevention program. More specifically, it’s a prevention with positives program (PWP), meaning it is designed to serve the HIV-positive community. Positive Action focuses on the active role HIV-positive people can take in preventing the spread of the disease to others and in keeping themselves free of STDs and other health risk factors while maintaining a healthy sex philosophy.

At the same time, Positive Action aims to give the HIV-positive community in San Diego a stronger voice and a new recognition in the struggle to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Positive Action is a collaboration of three local community-based organizations: The Center, the Asian Pacific Islander Community AIDS Project (APICAP) and the Center for Social Support and Education (CSSE). This collaboration is funded by the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency.

There are many ways to get involved in AIDS Walk.

1. Register to participate in the walk. Log on to http://aidswalksd.org or call (619) 291 WALK.

2. Volunteer for the event. San Diego AIDS Walk utilizes more than 500 volunteers to make this event happen. They need as much community support as possible, not only on the day of the event but during all days leading up to it as well.

3. Raise money. Ask your family, neighbors, classmates, co-workers and friends to sponsor you for the walk. The suggested minimum pledge is $25. Many of your sponsors will pledge $50 or $100, or more. Ask everyone to contribute, and remember to sponsor yourself.

4. Walk or run on Oct. 1. The 10K run and 5K walk begin and end in Balboa Park. Walk with your friends, family and co-workers to help raise urgently needed funds and send the message that until there is a cure, we all need to do our part.

Pre-Registration at Balboa Park begins on Saturday, Sept. 30, and will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Volunteers may check in on the day of the walk (Sunday, Oct.1) between 5:00 and 7:00 a.m. The registration tent is open from 6:00 a.m. to 12 noon, and pre-walk ceremonies begin promptly at 7:00 a.m.

The 10K run will begin at 8:00 a.m., and the 5K walk will follow their lead at 8:05 a.m. Fees for the run and the walk are $20 each.

For more information about AIDS Walk San Diego 2006 or to register as an individual or team, visit http://aidswalksd.org, e-mail The Center at info@aidswalksd.org or call (619) 291-WALK.