Bay Windows - Local News, May 27,1999
Loren King, Bay Windows staff

The 6.2-mile pledge Walk takes place June 6. The Walk is the AAC's largest fund-raiser, helping AAC and 18 other AIDS- services organizations (ASO) across the state. AAC distributes 30 percent of Walk net proceeds to large and small Massachusetts non-profit AIDS groups.

But AAC, which has grown over the past 16 years into the state's largest ASO, says it faces the formidable task of encouraging support for the Walk at a time when public perception is that better drug therapies have cured AIDS.

The walk is just as important as ever, because of the fact that people are not dying in great numbers," said Larry Kessler, executive director of AAC. But though deaths are down, the rate of AIDS infections continues to rise, said Kessler. While the number of people who died from AIDS plummeted 47 percent in 1997, nearly 40,000 people in the U.S. per year continue to become infected. At the same time, levels of new HIV infections remain high in the U.S., and continue to explode into staggering numbers in developing countries.

AAC is currently serving its largest client load in its 16-year history: 2,200 clients presently need services to stay healthy. As people live longer, Kessler said, the need for services, treatment and support is greater.

We have made progress. But this isn't where we want this to end. We need affordable drugs. We need a vaccine and we need a cure," he said.

Since prevention and education are now AAC's primary goals, the organization needs funding to promote AIDS awareness to groups that are at high-risk for infection, such as teenagers. We work all year to teach people to avoid this epidemic, not just how to avoid death," Kessler said. It is time for a recommitment to stay safe. It is also about showing those still fighting HIV/AIDS that the community still cares.

We hear from people with AIDS who say, 'The epidemic is over. I am becoming invisible again,'" Kessler continued. Or they feel ashamed for not doing well. We have to hold each other up. This could all change at any time. Complacency is the enemy; it is the cousin of the virus."

More than 13,000 are expected to converge on the Esplanade for the Walk, which has become a summer ritual in Boston. With 22 musical acts entertaining walkers along the route, it is a festive as well as significant occasion, said Kessler. But he urged participants who walk simply for the support and camaraderie not to forget that the event is an important fund-raiser and to get pledges for each mile that they walk. We raised $2.2 million last year, but we could raise $5 million if everyone who walked also made pledges," he said. The Walk isn't [the same as] Pride. We want moral support, but we need those pledges."

From a high of $3.3 million raised in 1992, Walk donations dropped off considerably in 1996 after the well-publicized success of protease million, AAC in April announced its biggest layoff in its history. inhibitors in treating AIDS. Due to budget shortfalls of nearly one Nineteen of 107 full-time staffers were let go to prevent cuts in direct client services.

Kessler notes that 1992 also saw the largest number of AIDS deaths, with many walking in memory of loved ones. We still have many teams of family and friends who walk in memory. For others, it many be 'no deaths, no walk.' I hope that's not the case. People should walk in gratitude and they should walk because it is still fresh in our minds how horrible it can be. We don't know if those days are over... If there is a resurgence of the epidemic, all the political battles are not going to be easy to win. We need money from Congress for programs and research. That work is far from done." Claudia Zevallos, Walk senior team coordinator, said in a climate of decreasing funding for AIDS, and with other walks competing for fund-raising dollars, it is important to find new strategies for getting people to help what is still an epidemic. Boston is walked out. It is exhausting, so here it's a challenge to keep people going," she said. The media's focus on the new drugs give a false perception that we are done. But education is our biggest focus and preventative efforts are expensive."

A nationwide survey of charitable foundations released last month found that while philanthropies are giving more than ever before, foundation support for HIV/AIDS has plummeted over the past three years. Reasons for the drop include donor fatigue" and the perception that, in the U.S., progress in treating AIDS means there is less urgency for funds. The survey, conducted by the Gallup Institute and commissioned by FCAA, a non-profit organization that mobilizes philanthropic leadership here and abroad to help end the HIV/AIDS crisis, was conducted in 1998 among 276 U.S. grant-making organizations.

To combat the changes in fund-raising and donor burnout, Zevallos said the strategy is to recruit teams from January through June, including corporate teams and sponsors and community groups. These teams will be among the thousands trekking through Boston next week.

But there are returnees every year, said Kessler and Zevallos. Many with AIDS or those who have lost friends and family to AIDS come back each year to do their part, they said. When people heard about the layoffs, we had a great response," said Zevallos. A lot of people who do this for us are exhausted, but they still do it. They may need more coaxing but they are still committed to the cause."

Besides providing 20 percent of the AAC annual budget, the AIDS Walk this year will help fund 18 other groups ù nine provide services to people with HIV/AIDS and nine are education- and prevention-specific. In the last 13 years, AAC has made grants totaling nearly $7.5 million to more than 100 organizations. This year, grant recipients include: AIDS Action Council, Washington, DC; Boston Alliance of Gay and Lesbian Youth; Boston Living Center; CAB Health and Recovery Services, Inc.; Casa Iris, Boston; Children's AIDS Program of Boston Medical Center; D.E.A.F., Inc.; HOME, Inc.; Malden YMCA; Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services; North Shore AIDS Health Project; ROCA (of Revere); Ruah, Breath of Life, Inc.; Social Justice for Women; Solutions at Work; SPAN, Inc.; Strongest Link AIDS Services; and Treatment on Demand of New Bedford.

(The 10K 14th Annual AIDS Walk Boston starts at 9 a.m. June 6 at the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade. For more information, call 617-424-WALK or visit the web site at www.aac.org.)
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