Houston Commemorates 25TH ANNUAL AIDS WALK

George Foreman to Serve as Grand Marshal
HOUSTON– AIDS Foundation Houston (AFH) continues to be at the forefront of HIV/AIDS as it gears up to host the city’s single greatest response in the fight against the epidemic. Houston’s 25th annual AIDS Walk will kickoff at Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston on Sunday March 9, 2014 at 8 a.m. World Champion Boxer, entrepreneur and philanthropist George Foreman will lead the race which will once again be presented by underwriter Marathon Oil.

AIDS Walk Houston 2014 co-chairs George Lancaster, head of communications for the real estate firm Hines and Ruben Galvan, KPRC 2 features reporter for the city’s most popular morning news show, are leading the thousands of participants to raise funds and awareness. The team is hoping to make this quarter-century milestone a banner year for fundraising. Compared to the many other annual AIDS walks in the country, Houston’s has the second-highest number of participants, with only New York attracting more walkers. Approximately 5,000 Houstonians register as fundraisers. However, Houston ranks fourth in fundraising behind New York, Atlanta and Chicago.

Walkers can sign up as individuals, members of a team or as a team leader. The entire process is efficiently automated on the websitewww.aidshelp.org. Lancaster comments, “HIV/AIDS is affecting the entirety of our community; and we hope that the philanthropic spirit will peak during this milestone 25th year. Giving online is so easy, and no gift is too small, or too large.”

Houston Mayor Annise Parker said, “The AIDS Walk is an opportunity for the whole community to come together and rally around the important effort to reduce the impact of HIV and AIDS in our city. One out of 93 people in Houston are HIV positive and the city ranks eighth in the U.S. in number of reported cases. March 9th is a great day for Houstonians from all walks of life to get out, walk, donate and remember that the fight is not over until we get to zero.”

AIDS Foundation Houston CEO Kelly Young commented, “Ideally we would like to eliminate the need for our annual walk. But today, after 30 years in business and with our 25th walk coming up, I am sad to say that we desperately need to keep awareness high, and raise funds not only for our own effective work, but for a host of Houston non-profit agencies joined in the fight.”

Funds raised from the Walk help AFH and local AIDS service organizations support HIV education and prevention efforts and provide care for thousands of Houstonians living with HIV/AIDS. This year’s AIDS Walk benefitting agencies are: AIDS Foundation Houston,Baylor College of Medicine Teen Health Clinic, Bering Omega Community Services, Bread of Life/St John’s Church, Brentwood Community Foundation, Crisis Intervention of Houston, and Lazarus House: A Center for Wellness, LIVE Consortium, Resurrection Metropolitan Community Church and SNAP – Spay-Neuter Assistance Program.

AIDS Walk Houston is a community event that provides hope for those impacted by or living with HIV/AIDS and works to eliminate the stigma associated with the disease. For additional information visit, www.AIDShelp.org  or www.AIDSWalkHouston.org  for details.