Thousands of friends, family members and neighbors showed their continued support and raised money for HIV and AIDS organizations in the Bay Area at this year’s AIDS Walk San Francisco.

 

AIDS Walk SF returned to Golden Gate Park Sunday, July 20, in support of 18 co-benefiting organizations, including the University of San Francisco, Rainbow Community Center and Rafiki Coalition for Health and Wellness. This year, the 5K walk, sponsored by HIV pharma giant Gilead Sciences, raised $901,288 and counting.

 

 

Since 1987, AIDS Walk San Francisco has inspired countless Bay Area residents to walk, volunteer and donate to fight HIV and AIDS. In total, the annual walk has raised more than $96 million for organizations across seven Bay Area counties.

 

In the wake of the Trump administration’s budget cuts impacting HIV and AIDS research and care, AIDS Walk SF director Bert Champagne reemphasized the purpose of the walk: to support and fund local community organizations that provide HIV services and fund other crucial operations.

 

“Unrestricted funds are so important to smaller organizations because sometimes it’s just getting somebody a vet visit for their emotional support animal,” Champagne said, according to Local News Matters. “It may be legal advice for somebody that has to do their last will and testament because they’re HIV positive and the doctor gave them bad news. These are funds for things government grants won’t cover.”

 

 

California State Senator Scott Wiener (D–San Francisco), a gay man who has championed access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV and related legislation, echoed Champagne’s message.

 

“We’re at a point now where we know how to end this public health disaster,” he said. “We know how to keep people living with HIV healthy. We know how to end HIV transmission. Now, we have another challenge: We have another government that doesn’t care about us. It doesn’t care if people die. A government that is restricting access to health care, which is how you fuel HIV.” 

 

Indeed, Rafiki Coalition CEO Shanell Williams said the nonprofit is noticing the disproportionate impact of recent spending cuts, especially those to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps), Medicaid, education and public health programs, on its primarily African American clientele.

 

 

While participants have already crossed the physical finish line, you can still raise funds and donate to the co-benefiting organizations through https://sf.aidswalk.net/Donate.

 

HIV fundraising efforts in California will soon experience a major loss. June’s AIDS/LifeCycle fundraising bike ride was the last iteration of the iconic event. For nearly three decades, cyclists pedaled each summer from San Francisco to Los Angeles, raising over $300 million for HIV services in those two cities.

 

Click #AIDS Walk to read more about other walks throughout the country and ways to get involved.