The AIDS Walk: It Still Matters

The annual AIDS Walk fundraiser for Boston's AIDS Action Committee is coming up this Sunday. Securing legal equality for people living with HIV/AIDS is a key part of GLAD’s mission, and supporting AAC's community-based education, prevention, advocacy and health service work is important to us.

And so we have a team walking, as we do each year. In fact, this year we’re proud to be the nonprofit organization that has raised the most money for the cause.

A large part of that money was raised by one dedicated staffer, who set a personal goal to ask 200 people to give just $5 each. Sure, some people weren't able to give, and then many people gave more than $5. The point was that lots of people never get asked to give at all, and if you ask, you may be surprised by who will.

More importantly, though, the effect of asking 200 people to support the AIDS walk, whether they gave money or not, is that 200 people were reminded that HIV and AIDS are still with us, and that AAC's mission - to provide support services for people living with AIDS and HIV; to educate the public and health professionals about prevention; and to advocate for fair, effective AIDS policy - is still vitally important.

AIDS is not over - neither is the fight.