D.C. AIDS Walk

STEPPING UP FOR CLINIC BY RAISING $800,000

With many District residents stunned by recent findings that the
city's HIV/AIDS infection rate is at epidemic levels, the 23rd annual
AIDS Walk Washington attracted the highest turnout in several years,
organizers said Saturday.

More than 7,000 participants, ranging from 20-somethings in ball
gowns and other festive costumes to senior citizens in T-shirts,
strolled or ran the 5-kilometer route along Pennsylvania Avenue NW in
the morning, raising nearly $800,000 to benefit the nonprofit
Whitman-Walker Clinic and its HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs.

Don Blanchon, the clinic's executive director and chief executive,
attributed the heightened awareness to publication of a city study in
March that found that 3 percent of District residents are infected
with HIV -- a higher rate than in West Africa and on par with those
in Uganda and parts of Kenya.

"There was a bit of shock and embarrassment and disappointment that
we haven't done more in the fight against AIDS," Blanchon said. "So
what we've seen in the months since that report has been a renewed
sense of commitment -- more people volunteering, more people donating."

"I'm an epidemiologist, and I still find the statistics surprising,"
said Kathy Bainbridge, 44, who decided to join the timed-run portion
of the event with several neighbors.

Many in the crowd also said they had been touched personally by the
disease, which has hit the city's African American men particularly
hard, infecting nearly 7 percent.

"My uncle passed from it two years ago. I'm here for him," said Tyrea
Lonon, 25, an employee of the State Department's congressional travel
office who was participating in the walk for the first time.

Despite the solemnity of the cause, Lonon said she felt upbeat. "You
feel like at least you're doing something good to help out," she said.

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), who was among several speakers
kicking off the event, struck an optimistic note, too. "I really do
feel that although our challenges are tough, the city has never been
more energized and more mobilized," he said to cheers from the crowd.
"I really do feel that we're getting the message out of getting
tested and making sure that you use the right type of prevention."

Although the mayor has won praise for restoring competence to the
city's HIV/AIDS office and funding programs such as a needle exchange
for drug addicts, he has also been criticized for not taking a more
public role. And his short speech at the walk was no exception.

"He needed to put a lot more emphasis on prevention," said George
Kerr, co-chairman of D.C. Fights Back, an outspoken AIDS advocacy
group, shortly after Fenty left the stage. "The mayor talked about
getting tested. But he should have gotten tested. He's a city leader,
and he needs to be leading by example. He should be talking about
HIV/AIDS every day."