Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Washington Blade - October 8, 2004
Joe Crea
Roughly 6,000 walkers participated in the 2003 event and the clinic netted $575,000 from that event, according to Chip Lewis, a spokesperson for Whitman-Walker.
The 2002 AIDS Walk drew 7,500 walkers and the clinic pulled in less than $600,000, incurred at least $490,000 in expenses, yielding less than $110,000 in net proceeds for clinic programs assisting those with AIDS.
But the 2002 numbers represented a substantial increase compared to the $4,000 net return from the 2001 walk that attracted only 3,500 walkers. Whitman-Walker officials assert that turnout in 2001 was low because the event took place just weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Robert York, director of Capital Pride and AIDS Walk said the clinic's goal this year is to raise $580,000 in total proceeds. According to the AIDS Walk Web site, WWC has thus far received $389,984 in donations. Clinic officials could not provide information on the event's anticipated expenses by press time.
York said that despite the low returns over the years, there will always be a demand for AIDS Walk.
"Until there's a cure, we are going to continue AIDS walks and other related events," York said.
AIDS no longer 'front page'
Brent Minor, a gay member of the President's Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS who said he attends the D.C. AIDS Walk every year, said that while individuals generally support the idea of an AIDS Walk fund-raiser, AIDS, as he puts it, "is no longer the front page story," which could be a contributing factor in the low turnout for the D.C. event.
"That has had a trickle-down effect," Minor said. "It's just that many people don't feel the urgency with this epidemic. If people thought they were closer to finding a cure, saw a light at the end of the tunnel, that might bring people together to say, 'Hey, we can push this over the top and make it.'"
To buttress his point about AIDS apathy, Minor referenced Tuesday night's vice presidential debate, during which both Vice President Dick Cheney and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) gave "lackluster responses about domestic AIDS problems."
"They don't know as much and that might be a glimpse into how the greater population feels," Minor said.
Poor organizing?
Craig Miller, the founder of the AIDS Walk movement that began in Los Angeles in 1985, said that AIDS walks, still, can be "hugely successful and hugely empowering for both the benefiting organizations and the community at large even in this most difficult area of AIDS fund-raising."
Miller said his group has been organizing AIDS walks in a variety of large and medium U.S. cities for the past 20 and produced the most successful event this year: the 19th Annual New York AIDS Walk, which raised $5.6 million and had a turnout of 45,000 people.
He said San Francisco's AIDS Walk, held in July, is expected to net close to $3.2 million.
Miller said if a group is having trouble getting a greater turnout for its walks, it's either a result of poor organizing or an inadequate level of investment on behalf of the organization.
"If you think you are dealing with a downward trend in attendance at these walks and you say, 'Well, we better reduce spending,' you can set yourself on a downward spiral," Miller said.
Miller said his comments were not directed at Whitman-Walker, an organization that he said is "competently managed and competently organized."
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