PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — For 35 years, AIDS Walk Philly has been raising awareness and funds for HIV/AIDS services in the Greater Philadelphia Region.
Sign-up efforts are underway for its biggest fundraiser of the year.
The 35th AIDS Walk Philly takes place on Sunday, October 17.
Funds raised help provide emergency financial assistance to people living with HIV in the Greater Philadelphia region.
“A quarter of new infections are occurring in young people under the age of 25, so we need to make sure to continue to get the message out that HIV is a serious issue In our community," said AIDS Fund Executive Director Robb Reichard, who kicked off the walk's awareness and signup effort in Rittenhouse Square.
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"We’ve made tremendous strides. We are now talking about getting to zero. Zero infections. Zero deaths and zero stigma, but we need to continue to raise awareness and to raise funds to support the people living with HIV."
A series of sandwich boards were set up in Rittenhouse Square highlighting significant HIV/AIDS events over the past 40 years, including when 18-year-old activist Ryan White died in 1990.
"That was 30 years ago with Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV, and then I hear from younger people who never heard of Ryan White, and then we get to educate who Ryan White was and the stigma existed, that still exists, that he faced," said Reichard.
"We get to tell those stories that generated a conversation that is so important.“
Since 2018, AIDS Fund has provided more than 1,000 grants.
More than 27,000 people in the greater Philadelphia region are living with HIV.
Click here for information on how to participate in AIDS Walk Philly.
