Fort Wayne Walk, Festival Benefits AIDS Task Force
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Fifth Annual AIDSWalk and Festival will be Sept. 9 at Lawton Park in downtown Fort Wayne.
The walkathon and festival benefits AIDS Task Force Inc., a not-for-profit organization that serves HIV-impacted Hoosiers in 11 northeast Indiana counties, including Kosciusko, Whitley and Wabash.
Nancy Cripe, events coordinator for AIDS Task Force Inc., said the walkathon is important because "AIDS hasn't gone away. It's still prevalent."
The Task Force has 220 clients with HIV, regardless of the stage of their disease, Cripe said, more than it has ever had at any time in its 16-year history.
"It's considerably more than what we had last year." Last year, she said, they had approximately 160 clients with HIV. They hit the 200 mark in May of this year.
AIDS Task Force provides both direct care services for the HIV-infected and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention education to residents of the 11 counties. Most of their requests for prevention education, Cripe said, come from jails, alcohol and drug treatment centers, schools and service organizations.
"The demand for our services on both sides (care and prevention) continues to increase," said Cripe.
HIV/AIDS education teaches that people of any age, race, gender or sexual identity can get it. But a person cannot get HIV from casual contact: hugging, shaking hands, eating or drinking after someone, living or working with an HIV-positive person, using public facilities, donating blood, having blood tests done or from mosquito bites.
Honorary chairman this year for the AIDSWalk is Ruben Rodriguez, a 19-year survivor of HIV from Brooklyn, N.Y.
Sign-in and the festival are from noon to 1:30 p.m. with the 5K Walk Step-Off at 2 p.m. Awards and live music will be at approximately 3:45 p.m.
There will be live performances by the bands Blind Justice, R&R Crossing, the Dekalb High School Show Choir and the North Side High School Jazz Band. Panels of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt will be displayed. There also will be a health information tent, face painting, a moonwalk for children, clowns, original artwork, speakers and concessions and prizes.
The quilt panels are a tribute to some of those people who have been lost to AIDS in northeast Indiana.
"It's very much a family event. You can even bring (the family) dog. We'll have a dog watering station," said Cripe.
The 5K walk, she said, is a "very pretty walk."
AIDSWalks have been held in Indiana for 11 years, initially in Indianapolis with most participants from central Indiana. In 1997, the AIDS Task Force Inc. hosted the first regional AIDSWalk in Indiana. Other regions have since organized similar AIDSWalks to benefit the programs and clients in their regions.
Lawton Park is at Fourth and Clinton streets, next to Science Central in downtown Fort Wayne.
To get to Lawton Park from Warsaw, Cripe said, take U.S. 30E, which will become Goshen Road. Goshen Road intersects with State Street. Take a left on State Street to Clinton and turn right on Clinton Street. The park is then less than a mile.
Last year's walk raised more than $50,000, an increase over the $33,000 raised the year before. However, according to information provided by the Task Force, this year it is imperative more money be raised because of the sharp increase in client load coupled with decreased federal and state funding.
The mission of the Task Force is to improve the quality of life for men, women and children with HIV and AIDS, reduce the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted disease infection and increase public understanding of HIV and AIDS in the community.
Founded in 1985 as a small grass roots organization, the Task Force has evolved into a multiprogram AIDS service organization. Along with the 220 people the Task Force provides case management services for, the Task Force also has 75 active volunteers and provides HIV/AIDS education to more than 7,000 people annually.
All donations to the Task Force are tax deductible.
To register and get pledge materials or for more information, call the AIDS Task Force at 744-1144 or 800-417-3085. [[In-content Ad]]
Fifth Annual AIDSWalk and Festival will be Sept. 9 at Lawton Park in downtown Fort Wayne.
The walkathon and festival benefits AIDS Task Force Inc., a not-for-profit organization that serves HIV-impacted Hoosiers in 11 northeast Indiana counties, including Kosciusko, Whitley and Wabash.
Nancy Cripe, events coordinator for AIDS Task Force Inc., said the walkathon is important because "AIDS hasn't gone away. It's still prevalent."
The Task Force has 220 clients with HIV, regardless of the stage of their disease, Cripe said, more than it has ever had at any time in its 16-year history.
"It's considerably more than what we had last year." Last year, she said, they had approximately 160 clients with HIV. They hit the 200 mark in May of this year.
AIDS Task Force provides both direct care services for the HIV-infected and HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention education to residents of the 11 counties. Most of their requests for prevention education, Cripe said, come from jails, alcohol and drug treatment centers, schools and service organizations.
"The demand for our services on both sides (care and prevention) continues to increase," said Cripe.
HIV/AIDS education teaches that people of any age, race, gender or sexual identity can get it. But a person cannot get HIV from casual contact: hugging, shaking hands, eating or drinking after someone, living or working with an HIV-positive person, using public facilities, donating blood, having blood tests done or from mosquito bites.
Honorary chairman this year for the AIDSWalk is Ruben Rodriguez, a 19-year survivor of HIV from Brooklyn, N.Y.
Sign-in and the festival are from noon to 1:30 p.m. with the 5K Walk Step-Off at 2 p.m. Awards and live music will be at approximately 3:45 p.m.
There will be live performances by the bands Blind Justice, R&R Crossing, the Dekalb High School Show Choir and the North Side High School Jazz Band. Panels of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt will be displayed. There also will be a health information tent, face painting, a moonwalk for children, clowns, original artwork, speakers and concessions and prizes.
The quilt panels are a tribute to some of those people who have been lost to AIDS in northeast Indiana.
"It's very much a family event. You can even bring (the family) dog. We'll have a dog watering station," said Cripe.
The 5K walk, she said, is a "very pretty walk."
AIDSWalks have been held in Indiana for 11 years, initially in Indianapolis with most participants from central Indiana. In 1997, the AIDS Task Force Inc. hosted the first regional AIDSWalk in Indiana. Other regions have since organized similar AIDSWalks to benefit the programs and clients in their regions.
Lawton Park is at Fourth and Clinton streets, next to Science Central in downtown Fort Wayne.
To get to Lawton Park from Warsaw, Cripe said, take U.S. 30E, which will become Goshen Road. Goshen Road intersects with State Street. Take a left on State Street to Clinton and turn right on Clinton Street. The park is then less than a mile.
Last year's walk raised more than $50,000, an increase over the $33,000 raised the year before. However, according to information provided by the Task Force, this year it is imperative more money be raised because of the sharp increase in client load coupled with decreased federal and state funding.
The mission of the Task Force is to improve the quality of life for men, women and children with HIV and AIDS, reduce the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted disease infection and increase public understanding of HIV and AIDS in the community.
Founded in 1985 as a small grass roots organization, the Task Force has evolved into a multiprogram AIDS service organization. Along with the 220 people the Task Force provides case management services for, the Task Force also has 75 active volunteers and provides HIV/AIDS education to more than 7,000 people annually.
All donations to the Task Force are tax deductible.
To register and get pledge materials or for more information, call the AIDS Task Force at 744-1144 or 800-417-3085. [[In-content Ad]]