AIDS Walk Detroit Raises Money for Local Organizations
(Crystal A. Proxmire, Photography: Jonathan Quirk)
Royal Oak, MI – Teams of walkers hit the streets of Royal Oak on Sept. 25 to raise money for local programs that support people with AIDS and AIDS prevention programs. Teams are able to keep up to 95% of the money collected for their team, with the rest going for overhead for the event.  AIDS Walk Detroit is a unique opportunity for many groups to come together for fundraising, as well as to make a statement that AIDS is still an issue.
Groups that participated included Affirmations Community Center, DeafCan, Unified HIV Health and Beyond, Wayne State University JIGSAW (Joining Intersectionality, Gender, Sexuality and Allies at Wayne), Dignity Detroit, and Beaumont Health Systems.
Members of the business community also formed teams to walk to support the groups, including Leon and Lulu, Walgreens and Macy’s.  Delta Airlines sponsored this years’ walk.
Beaumonth Health Systems asked employees who were walking why they were doing so for a post on their website.  “I walk to fight stigma associated with this chronic condition and to support those living with HIV/AIDS,” said Levi Hall, Pharmacy Specialist, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.
Paul Johnson, M.D. Infectious Disease, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak said ““I walk to let patients and the community know that their physicians stand with them.”
The walk also featured speakers and the presentation of 20 panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt, which is part of The NAMES Project.
Learn more about AIDS Walk Detroit at http://www.aidswalkdetroit.org/
Learn more about the Names Project at http://www.aidsquilt.org/
Learn more about Beaumont’s participation in the walk at
http://www.beaumont.org/health-wellness/blogs/aids-walk-detroit-why-we-walk#sthash.F5b6f4oz.dpuf
And check out a previous oc115 (then Ferndale 115) story of the AIDS Memorial Quilt:
http://oaklandcounty115.com/2011/12/04/vigil-film-quilt-panels-remember-those-lost-to-aids/