AIDS Walk Philly Raises $200K to #BeALifeline

The 37^th annual AIDS Walk Philly drew over 1,000 people and raised more than $200,000 to help the most vulnerable people living with HIV, reports CBS News.

AIDS Walk Philly is just one of the events spearheaded by AIDS Fund to raise awareness about HIV and assist Philadelphians living with the virus. Funds raised by the AIDS Walk help provide small grants—a lifeline—to folks living with HIV and facing emergency situations, such as impending evictions or the loss of health insurance or utilities. The average #BeALifeline grant is about $440, according to AIDSWalkPhilly.org.

“We’re there to help people when a financial crisis could turn into a health crisis,” Robb Reichard, executive director of AIDS Fund, told CBS. “We help them with back rent or utilities or a medical issue that might not be covered by insurance—a walker, a cane, a hearing aid, critical for people to live a long and healthy life with the treatments.”

In 2020, 18,534 people were living with HIV in Philadelphia, according to AIDSVu.org, which creates interactive maps and curates HIV-related data on the city, county and state levels. That same year, 330 people were newly diagnosed with HIV.

What’s more, 63.7% of Philadelphians living with HIV are Black, 16.1% are Latino and 16.5% are white. The majority (72.2%) are male.

Several local media personalities emceed the AIDS walk, and panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt were displayed during the event.

To date, AIDS Walk Philly has raised over $18 million.

In related fundraising news, the Windy City recently held its annual AIDS Run & Walk Chicago and a 275-mile bike ride raised a record $2 million for HIV services at New York City’s LGBT Community Center.

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