AIDS Walk 2011: Personal stories abound at annual fundraiser

Exercise and social awareness converge Sunday, Sept. 25, when as many as 8,000 participants take part in the annual AIDS Walk & Run San Diego, an event intended to raise funds and awareness for the agencies and programs that help the thousands of San Diegans living with HIV.

The AIDS Walk & Run is a program of the San Diego LGBT Community Center and is the largest HIV/AIDS fundraiser in San Diego County. Funds raised at the event stay in the San Diego area to support local HIV/AIDS service organizations.

Says Dr. Delores A. Jacobs, CEO of the San Diego LGBT Community Center, “Opening ceremonies will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the crowd is usually really energized as people start to line-up. The 10k Run officially starts at 8 a.m. and the Walk steps off at 8:15 a.m. Walkers and runners participate at their own pace, but most people complete the route by 10:30 a.m. Post-event festivities start as the runners and walkers return.”

The event began in 1987 as the “Walk for Life,” and has now turned into a San Diego community tradition spanning more than two decades. It is seen by many as an essential community response to an ongoing traumatic crisis that touches many San Diegans personally. A lot of participants see it as a way to help those in dire need, even in a small way.

Says Jacobs, “Last year, we had nearly 8,000 people participate in AIDS Walk & Run San Diego. This year, we hope to do just as well or better. It is such an inspirational event and it’s always great to see our community pull together like this.”

In addition to funding a portion of the HIV/AIDS programs provided by the San Diego LGBT Community Center, a unique funding partnership with the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative allows AIDS Walk & Run San Diego to grant dollars to other local HIV/AIDS service organizations.

Above all though, the event is about people: The HIV/AIDS sufferers that need assistance and the participants and volunteers who are trying to help them.

Qualcomm team captain Steve Wendt, HIV+ for 23 years, has been in his own words, “very lucky.” For him the event is a way to help others “try to avoid the devastation of this disease. And to help support those who have it and who do not have access to all the support I have. I am in good health, and have excellent health insurance through Qualcomm. In fact, my partner Craig is also covered through Qualcomm’s health plan.”

For Tish Grabski it is a way to respond to the indifference of others. “Too many people think there is already a cure, it hasn’t affected them personally or they feel there is a stigma attached so they don’t want to donate or get involved,” she says. “I don’t agree with any of those, and that’s why I keep walking.”

For Martinis Above Fourth team captain Ian Johnson, the event is as much about the lives that are impacted by the disease today as about the lives already lost. “We are all affected by HIV/AIDS. Whether you are straight, gay, man, woman, child or any ethnicity, this seriously impacts all of our lives. With more than one million people in the U.S. living with HIV, it is a strong possibility everyone knows someone who has it, lives with it or has lost the battle. Also we lost so many people from the AIDS crisis in the beginning that this is a way to honor them.”

And while the walk participants share a collective desire to help the HIV community in some way, they also have highly personal reasons to be there.

Says Wendt, who has participated in the San Diego AIDS Walk every year since 1998, “I have had four partners and over 30 friends die from this disease. It is horrible to watch someone die from AIDS complications. I feel very lucky. My health started to deteriorate in the ’90s but protease inhibitors were just starting to come out. I managed to get in a protease inhibitor drug study through UCSD which probably saved my life. I feel that I need to do something for others who may not have been as lucky as I have been.”

Adds seven-year AIDS Walk veteran Grabski, “I have lost nine friends to AIDS and probably more I am not aware of. My involvement began in the ’80s. I was then a division manager for the San Diego Municipal Court. One of my employees came to me and said he had a confidential matter to discuss. I could see that he was terribly distressed and close to tears. Unfortunately my office had several large windows which looked out over the workforce. I suggested that we might want to choose a more private place to meet, away from ‘inquiring eyes.’ He agreed and we set a place and time. At that place he told me that he had AIDS and we both began to cry. He subsequently passed away as did his partner. The first AIDS Walk team I formed was with the San Diego Municipal Court and several of his friends and co-workers. Many of them continue to support the Walk in his honor.”

Says five year AIDS Walk veteran Johnson, “About 10-12 years ago, a lifetime ago for me, I had my own issues. Life was hard and I was living the ‘vagabond’ lifestyle and things got rough. A friend of mine, Brent, opened his home and life to me. He helped me get things on track and helped me realize who I was. Brent had his own problems but always thought of everyone else. A couple years later I had lost touch. About seven years ago, I was contacted and he was in a hospice living the last days of his life. Due to AIDS complications his life was cut short. I walk in his memory and honor and it is a constant reminder to think of others.”

Teams are an important element of the AIDS walk dynamic, made up of employees and supporters, and cover an entire cross section of the community.

Wendt comes to the event as captain of the Qualcomm team. “I have organized a team at Qualcomm the past six years,” he says. “Over this period we have raised well over $100,000. Each year we average around 40 team members who walk with family and friends. Qualcomm has also been a sponsor of the walk for many, many years.”

Not only large companies are represented. Small businesses also get involved. Johnson started putting together a team from Martinis five years ago and says, “Five years ago I approached the owners – Dale, Chaz and Johnny – about forming an AIDS Walk team thinking that we could make a difference. Our first year we raised around $6,000 and it has just grown from there. Since 2008 we have received the top small business team and last year the top team overall raising $29,001! Our team consists of staff and customers and friends of Martinis. We as a team created an annual fundraiser “Summer Splash” which has been the top team fundraiser for the past three years and we are hoping that, with the $8,000 we raised this year, it will happen again.”

Social responsibility, community service, volunteerism – the opinions on why the event is important for the local community are as varied as the personal reasons for taking part. But one thing the myriad of opinions do share is how important the event is.

Grabski joined the San Diego Uptown Rotary in Hillcrest in 2004 and the first Rotary AIDS Walk Team was formed in 2005. Speaking of the AIDS event she says, “It binds us together for incredibly needed information dissemination and assistance to those living with AIDS as well as those yet to be diagnosed.”

Adds Johnson, “With all the cuts the state of California has made in the past couple of years, this walk is crucial. This is the largest HIV/AIDS fundraiser in all of San Diego. The benefit is that you are not helping just one HIV/AIDS service agency, you are helping numerous. Many of the organizations rely on these much needed funds.”

Each year, local HIV/AIDS service organizations apply to the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative, which selects the funding recipients. In 2010, the recipients were Being Alive, Bienestar Human Services, Christie’s Place, Family Health Centers of San Diego, Fraternity House, Jewish Family Service, Mama’s Kitchen, North County Health Services, The San Diego LGBT Community Center, San Diego Hospice, San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program, San Diego Youth Services, San Ysidro Community Health Center and Vista Community Clinic.

While the AIDS Walk & Run San Diego is a local event and not affiliated with a national group, some of the funds from the event are combined with additional donations to qualify for matching funds from national organizations, philanthropists and foundations.

Says Jacobs, “This is done through a unique funding partnership with the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative and that helps AIDS Walk & Run San Diego increase the impact of the dollars raised at this event.”

However, not all organizations can get matching funds. Adds Jacobs, “It depends on the availability of funds or grants designated for specific types of programs. For example, some grants might be designed to address a particular issue like HIV and crystal meth use or another philanthropist might want funds to go for a specific age group. The San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative does an outstanding job of trying to maximize HIV fundraising with matching fund opportunities.”

One thing that does permeate through all the participants and those involved in the event is the importance of social awareness as well as fundraising for community programs.

Says Wendt, “I feel that everyone should try to give something back, be it through volunteerism or through raising money for a charity that means something special to them. There are lots of opportunities.”

Adds Grabski, “I had the opportunity to do humanitarian work in Kenya for several years and two of the children I support lost their parents to AIDS.

“AIDS is devastating in Africa and we are very fortunate to have made such strides here in America, but there is a very long way to go.”

Observes Johnson, “Organizations are barely keeping their doors open. This kind of event is such a huge part of their annual budget that events like this need to keep going until a cure has been found. We all live such hectic lives and are so consumed with what we have to accomplish and our problems. There is someone who is facing things a lot harder than we are.”

And yet it is not simply a case of continually giving with no personal recompense. Participants and those involved in the event also get something back, although what that is can also be just as varied as the reasons for participating in the first place.

Says Wendt of what he gets back, “Just the satisfaction that I am doing what I can. I have the disease but have been very, very lucky. And I now work for an excellent company with great benefits and am in very good health.”

What does Grabski receive in return? “Lots of cleansing tears and pride in knowing what I am doing is right. I left a donation canister at a local market and the owner told me that he received many small change donations from children – they had heard about people suffering from AIDS and wanted to help. Needless to say I sobbed all the way home.”

Says Johnson, “As a person who works in a bar and restaurant, getting up so early is not my normal routine. But that morning when you are surrounded by thousands of people all there for one common thing the feeling is amazing. Each person there cares about the lives of others and their well-being. I get to participate in this event with an amazing team and most importantly I know that I and everyone else have made a difference.”

Last year, in partnership with the San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative, more than $500,000 was distributed to community-based HIV/AIDS service organizations in San Diego County.

According to Jacobs, people can start turning in their donations as early as the Thursday prior to the AIDS Walk and last-minute participants can register on-site on the day of the event, beginning at 6 a.m.

Opening ceremonies will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25 with the 10k Run officially starting at 8 a.m. and the Walk beginning at 8:15 a.m.

There are several special events leading up to the day of the Walk. Interested parties can visit the event Web site at aidswalksd.org for details and for information on registering, volunteering or donating.