Advertisement

AIDS Walk Detroit gets youthful in 18th year

by Jessica Carreras

Last Sunday in Royal Oak, thousands of people showed up to culminate months of fundraising for Steppin' Out's AIDS Walk Detroit. There, to the sounds of cheering volunteers, honking horns of support, upbeat music blasting and even cheerleader chants, they walked to commemorate lives lost and affected by HIV/AIDS – and to celebrate over $205,000 raised.
Almost 3,000 walkers registered, however, organizers of the event say it was much higher. "The amount of walkers seemed to be increased from last year. We had a bigger crowd," said Bill Thomas, Steppin' Out president and one of the founders of the walk. "We were told by the police that there were about 5,000 or more people there."
Thomas said he noticed high numbers of youth, black and lesbian walkers, which he was pleased about. He also noted that many businesses and organizations were involved, including a local church that grilled hot dogs for walkers and several restaurants that threw parties for participants and volunteers. There were also several politicians present, including Sen. Carl Levin, Ferndale Mayor Craig Covey and Royal Oak Mayor Jim Ellison.
"It was such a cool way to connect the community," Thomas said. "And when I say community, I don't mean just the gay, lesbian and transgender community – I mean the whole community – the church to the business community really stepped up to the plate this year."


The day was marked by a substantial number of youth. "The youth component was probably the strongest we've ever had," Thomas commented.
"It was nice to see a lot of young people out walking," said David Agius of Health Emergency Lifeline Programs. "There seems to be even more walking, which, to me, is really great because then they're getting the message about AIDS and HIV."
Indeed, many youth were in attendance with their families, churches and high schools.
The high school-aged youth included many who participated in the Channel 95.5 challenge that urged the teens to raise funds from their school. The schools participating included Grosse Pointe North High School, Northville High School, Foley North High School, Lincoln High School and Livonia Franklin High School.
Each school worked to raise money, and the one who raised the most – Grosse Pointe North – was honored at the ceremony by getting to lead the walk.
"We wanted to support AIDS and donate and help them find a cure," said Grosse Pointe student Mike Cardosi, 16. "We have a diversity club and they're the ones who organized it."
"We wanted to come out for a good cause," classmate Grace Schneider, 16, added.
Though the teens have not been directly affected by HIV/AIDS, they said their hearts went out to those who have lost friends and family members – and they wanted to do something to help. "I feel like I want to support them and help them out through all that they've been through," Cardosi said. "Hopefully, I don't have to experience that – losing someone to AIDS – but I want to hopefully prevent that from happening in future generations."
Cardosi and Schneider said they had learned about the disease and how it continued to affect people worldwide. "We know about AIDS in Africa and the AIDS epidemic here in previous decades," Cardosi said.
"It's spreading and we're trying to do all we can to prevent it," Schneider added.
However, Thomas also noted that the presence of youth highlighted the need for increased education about HIV and sex in schools. "I think honestly there needs to be better awareness of sexual education in our country," he said. "We simply can't have a blind eye to this, and the young people are smart enough to know that there are things that they can do. We really need to get the message out to our youth."


Still, despite the large number of youth, many were there in memory of those they lost, some of whom were commemorated by the 21 quilts that were brought out at 9:30 that morning by almost 200 volunteers. The quilts that day were just a small part of the NAMES Memorial Quilt Project, which representes almost 100,000 people who have passed from AIDS.
"My brother in law passed away from AIDS and we have a quilt here for him," Brian MacLean of East Pointe said. "Raising money for this is kind of special to the whole family."
This year marked MacLean's first year walking and his wife's second. They came with their teenaged nephew. Sandy MacLean explained that both the fundraising and the quilt were family affairs. "We each took a section of it – my mom, my brothers, my sisters, my nieces and nephews – we all took a section and we did something that reminded us of Mike," Sandy said of their part of the quilt.
Sandy MacLean raised over $1,700 and was part of the Extra Mile Club. She said raising the funds was no problem. "I have an easy in because I have a big family and I'm walking for Michael," she said earnestly. "That's what I tell them – that I'm walking in Michael's memory. I just kept sending e-mails to everybody and they just kept sending donations."
They walked with the Cass Community Social Services team, which raised almost $4,000 altogether.
In the early morning, when the sky was still overcast, Thomas said he worried that the quilts – which are often showcased indoors but are displayed outside for AIDS Walk Detroit – would be hit by rain that threatened to fall. "I was a little nervous," Thomas admitted. "It was a little overcast and grey, and then all of a sudden, the clouds broke and it was almost like there was this wonderful message saying 'you're on the right path.' It was really embracing for everyone that was there. It was very powerful."


Overall, Thomas said the event was a huge success. A substantial number of teams raised dollar amounts in the thousands, and donations will continue to come in through the end of October.
Bob Prud'homme, a Ferndale native, came home to walk with his friends at Higher Ground, which raised $5,890. "I came here from Santa Barbara, Calif. to join my friends here from Ferndale because these guys are helping people here who are HIV positive," he said. "When someone's first diagnosed, it's a pretty frightening thing, you know? You think your life is over. We're helping people cope – heal the body, heal the mind, heal the spirit – and move to higher ground."
Higher Ground was one of many organizations there to raise funds, both for their own organizations and for others.
Two of them, Affirmations and MAPP, have been waging a heated battle against one another to raise funds by the pet of each organization's CEO. As of press time, MAPP led the way with Craig Covey's cat Gizmo, who is beating Affirmations CEO Leslie Thompson's dog Beau by less than $10.
But, though competitions between friends – even the four-legged kind – were common, Thomas insists that funds raised are not the only good thing to come from AIDS Walk Detroit. "You can't measure the success by the number of walkers or the amount of money raised," he insisted. "I think the biggest success that we have is the fact that this event has gone on for 18 years and we're reaching out to a new segment of our community. That's really good."

Advertisement
Topics: News
Advertisement

From the Pride Source Marketplace

Go to the Marketplace
Directory default
One of Detroit's oldest and most popular night spots, Club Gold Coast features male strippers and…
Learn More
Directory default
Woman-owned, Fully licensed, Bonded and Insured
Learn More
Directory default
Offering full-service banking and lending expertise. Flagstar is Michigan's largest mortgage…
Learn More
Directory default
Detroit Regional LGBT Chamber of Commerce MemberO’FLAHERTY’S HAS BEEN A STAPLE IN THE GROSSE POINTE…
Learn More
Advertisement