Chicago Tribune - September 25, 2000
Evan Osnos, Tribune Staff Writer

Foiled somewhat by soggy skies, Sunday's 5K march around the Museum Campus drew an estimated 21,000 walkers. That was nearly a third less than in past years but still a success to organizers who feared a drop in turnout that has struck recent fundraisers in other cities.

Spokesman Andrew Hayes said the dampened turnout made it impossible to know until next week if the event reached a goal of $1.9 million in pledges. Funds will pay for HIV tests, therapies for children, housing and mental health.

Even as prognoses for those with HIV improve, fundraising has suffered nationwide. The Ryan White Foundation, named for the one of the earliest symbols of AIDS' effect on mainstream America, closed a year ago for lack of funds, and other groups are struggling in New York and San Francisco.

For AIDS activists holding public attention has meant transforming their message.

"The walk today represents a much more broad-based effort," said Joe Coray, 38, a coordinator of the AIDS memorial quilt who has participated each year since 1994. "There are still a lot of people from the gay community, but in the U.S. the issue now really affects people of color, the homeless, and lifestyles that are not thought of as at-risk."

The frontlines of AIDS activism now stretch to Africa, where an estimated 25 million people are infected with HIV. It also includes growing ranks of older Americans, who, thanks to multiple-drug treatments, now manage HIV infections as a chronic condition.

This year's event extended efforts to attract support beyond the sufferers and loved ones who have raised $11 million since 1989. To keep a hold on popular attention, Coray knows they need the support of people like Kimberly O'Neal.

"By God's grace I'm healthy and I've got no one in my family who has AIDS," said O'Neal, walking alongside three of her children and two nieces she needled into making the trip from south suburban Burnham. "Even though it doesn't affect you directly, this is about teaching them to help the less fortunate."

Jiles Taylor-George, a nurse at Cook County Hospital, has seen HIV-positive patients for most of her 20-year career. On Sunday she walked slowly around the AIDS quilt, flanked by her husband, Henry, and their 12-year-old son, King.

"He is the next generation that has to take on this war," she said, resting her hand on her son's shoulder. "And they've got to understand that it's not about one group or one nationality. ... It affects all of us as people."

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