20th Annual AIDS Walk Tucson Registration Now Open

On Sunday, October 19, the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation (SAAF) and Title Sponsor Desert Diamond Casino and Hotel will be hosting the 20th annual AIDSWALK Tucson featuring a 5Kwalk, 10K fun run, food, entertainment, community education, and a quilt opening ceremony on the central mall of The University of Arizona campus.

In a letter of support for AIDSWALK recently written by AIDSWALK Honorary Co-Chair, Congressman Raúl Grijalva, he stated “AIDSWALK has been important as a way our community comes together for the benefit of persons with HIV/AIDS who are in need”. This best sums up this year’s AIDSWALK theme: “Everybody’s Walk!”

Individual walkers and teams are encouraged to visit aidswalktucson.com now to register in advance. Walkers may also create a fundraising page and encourage family, friends and co-workers to join with them in this important quest. One of the more brutal side-effects of HIV/AIDS, or any other debilitating disease, can be poverty. It is only with the backing of the Tucson community that SAAF can provide supplemental assistance to improve quality of life for individuals who need help. One hundred percent of donations raised at AIDSWALK stay in Southern Arizona.

This year as every year, AIDSWALK calls the community to “Remember. Support. Prevent”. On October 19, twelve AIDS Quilt panels help the community to remember loved ones that we’ve lost to AIDS. Nearly 100 sponsors and over 5,500 walkers will raise funds to help support those living with HIV/AIDS in southern Arizona, and education and outreach at the event helps to prevent new HIV infections. The Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation provides care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS in southern Arizona, including case management, housing, transportation, a food pantry and a mobile meals program, medical and dental assistance and support groups. Equally important, SAAF provides outreach to groups at high risk of HIV/AIDS through seven different culturally targeted prevention programs as well as general community education to help reduce the risk of HIV.

AIDSWALK 2008 will be a day of meaningful community gathering but not without fun and festivities. Be a part of it! Form a team, challenge others to a fundraising contest, and just spread the word. Your personal support of AIDSWALK helps provide critical services for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, and also helps to fund critical prevention programs for people at risk for HIV. HIV/AIDS doesn’t discriminate. This is everybody’s walk.

For more information about AIDSWALK or to learn about our traveling Registration sites please visit aidswalktucson.com or our myspace page at myspace.com/aidswalktucson or contact (520) 791-WALK (9255).