AIDS Walk New York Returns May 21 To Central Park

NEW YORK, NY — AIDS Walk New York returns Sunday, May 21 in Central Park for a 35th year. It is the largest, single-day AIDS fundraising event in the world, supporting people living with HIV and protecting public health in the tri-state area through an annual, 5-mile endeavor. Its legacy has seen almost 890,000 walkers amid nearly $150 million in total donations in the effort to combat HIV and AIDS.

These funds, as outlined on the AIDS Walk New York website, sustain prevention, care and advocacy programs provided by Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), a non-profit whose mission is to end the AIDS epidemic and uplift the lives of all — men, women and families — affected by the disease.

Registration is free for runners, teams and solo walkers. There are also options for participants who set a goal to raise $1,000 or more, called Star Walkers, and individuals who are unable to attend the AIDS Walk in person but would still like to raise funds, dubbed “virtual walkers.”

The AIDS Walk New York website also offers the option to donate to a single walker, a team or as a general contribution, and interested volunteers can fill out a short application or call the AIDS Walk office at (212) 807-9255 for more information.

AIDSVu, an interactive online map depicting the HIV epidemic in the United States, cites 107,910 people living with diagnosed HIV in New York City as of 2014, and GMHC reports that 42 percent of HIV-positive New Yorkers are over the age of 50. Nationally, about one in four new HIV infections are among youth, ages 13 to 24. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV, and one in eight infected are not aware of it.

Photo credit: AIDS Walk New York via Facebook