The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last August that an estimated 56,300 people become infected with the AIDS virus every year in the United States—40 percent more than the previous calculation. Locally, AIDS Community Resources (ACR), 627 W. Genesee St., is a not-for-profit organization that provides prevention, education and support services to those infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
AIDS and abet: Do your part to help AIDS Community Resources raise much-needed funds by asking for donations before running or walking, or making a contribution yourself.
Within the last year, ACR’s state grant allocation has been cut by $125,000. Because of the resultant corollary operating cutbacks, they’ve lost $300,000 in their general programming budget, which means less teen prevention programming and emergency services for their clients living with the virus. That’s why the success of events like the annual AIDS Walk/Run, taking place Sunday, June 7, at Beaver Lake Nature Center, 8477 E. Mud Lake Road, Baldwinsville, have become more important than ever.
But even the ever-increasingly popular AIDS Walk/Run—now in its 17th installment—is facing the backlash of the dismal economy. “This year has been a real struggle,” said Wil Murtaugh, director of development at ACR. “Last year was a huge increase as we had 1,250 walkers and runners while the year before we had 950. We don’t know what to expect until we show up event day, but we’re hoping to get over 1,000 people again.”
Race-day registration opens at 8:30 a.m. and the races begin at 10 a.m. Participants in the 5K walk can register on race day, if they choose, but all runners must preregister for the 10K, which can be done anytime online at www.aidswalkcny.com, or at a few pre-event functions. A “happy hour” registration will be held Thursday, June 4, 5 to 7 p.m., at Syracuse Suds Factory, 320 S. Clinton St. And on Friday, June 5, 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday, June 6, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., an open house will be conducted at ACR headquarters where participants can sign up and learn firsthand the ins and outs of the organization.
Freshman Rep. Dan Maffei, who Murtaugh said has been extremely supportive of the ACR, is slated to be on hand at that event and will address the crowd at 10 a.m. as opening ceremonies commence. The Assault City Roller Derby girls will act as the “fired up” crew to get everyone’s juices flowing for the trek ahead, while DJ Maestro from WHHT-FM 107.9 (Hot 107.9) will be spinning tunes to provide beats for those racing hearts. Raffle tickets at $2 a stub, or at discounted rates when purchased in bulk, will be sold for chances to win prizes including a mountain bike and a private boat tour to four wineries along Cayuga Lake. The ACR is expecting their most anticipated raffle to be the chance to win two tickets to the sold-out Dave Matthews Band concert at Alliance Bank Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 4.
Another attraction is the Beaver Lake venue where the event has been held all 17 years. Murtaugh said many runners and walkers claim it’s their favorite place to hot-step because of the serenity of the trails. ACR hopes both the prizes and the location will draw new entrants as well as veterans.
According to Murtaugh, companies and corporations that have partaken in the event in previous years aren’t participating this year, as they’re facing the same shortchange outlook as the ACR. But even though preregistration is down, he noted that the people who have already signed up are exhibiting a more grass-roots attitude than ever before, which has just about evened things out as far as fund-raising goes, which is their penultimate crux.
“Companies haven’t been able to support us as in the past,” continued Murtaugh, “but the participants we do have have been very enthusiastic. Fund-raising has been challenging this year and everyone involved has been doing all sorts of unique and creative methods to try and raise what we did last year. {Recently} at Empire Brewery, people from the Starbucks Team decided to stage a ‘Casino for a Cause,’ with winners getting raffle tickets for a chance to win something like a kayak or a spa visit.”
Last year, the AIDS Walk/Run raised $200,000 and Murtaugh is hoping to come close to or exceed that number this time around. The minimum donation he hopes people can come up with is $25, but he’s not just asking one person to fork over the dough. “All someone has to do is ask five people for $5,” he noted. “This is a fund-raiser after all and we try to ask them to at least raise the minimum to participate.”
There are 10 levels of incentive-based donations, with $40 being the lowest and $10,000 being the highest, all coming with various degrees of perks including a key-ring LED light, moon chairs and up to $400 in gift cards. Even if a prior commitment prevents you from attending the run/walk, you can still get involved. Just visit the aforementioned Web site and click the donation link.
A group of volunteers formed ACR 26 years ago and they’re still the heart of the agency, according to Murtaugh. There will be 120 of them at the walk/run, mostly for pointing the runners in the right direction on the intertwining 6.2-mile run. “They tend to get upset when they get lost,” joked Murtaugh, a runner himself.
In the tent area, there will be tables with volunteers and literature to explain where all of the donations will be going and also to offer awareness on all of ACR’s programs and support services. “We’re in more schools and after-school programs than ever before,” said Murtaugh. “Focusing on HIV infections and sexually transmitted disease prevention are our top priorities. If they’re sexually active, one out of four teenage girls is positive with an STD and for people under 25, one out of two are positive with an STD. Half of all new infections in the country are people under 24 and it drives me crazy that youths of today are not getting the message they need to be getting.”
—Tom Kahley
