Who would’ve guessed that last year’s AIDS Walk New York— an event that took place well into the protease era, and at a time when most AIDS Walks all around this country are experiencing sharp declines or even folding—would have raised more money than at any other point in its history? Ask Craig Miller, founder of the AIDS Walk movement and president of MZA Events, which produces many AIDS fundraisers, and he’ll tell you he is pleased, but not entirely surprised.

Miller seeks to make one thing clear: The recent drop-offs in AIDS fundraising can be overcome. Last year’s AIDS Walk New York “raised $5.6 million, and it did so within an environment full of all of the challenges that you’ll hear AIDS organizations all around the country rightfully bemoaning: lack of public attention to the AIDS crisis, declining public engagement in the domestic AIDS crisis, a greater emphasis on international AIDS issues, domestic economic problems—you name it,” says Miller. “If we as organizers lessen our investment, lessen our intensity, or lessen our professionalism, we will end up feeding the downward trend and making it a self-fulfilling prophecy—and it doesn’t need to be that way.”

A few days after our interview, on the windowed mezzanine of the TimeWarner Center overlooking New York City’s Columbus Circle, a years-in-the-making spirit filled this new building. The organizers, volunteers, supporters, and beneficiaries of AIDS Walk New York were there to commemorate the event’s upcoming twentieth anniversary. Photos dating back to 1986 dressed the columns; a screen had been set up against the windows and a short film played against the deepening shades of night. Brief talks were given by Miller and Ana Oliveira, executive director of GMHC (the principal among fifty beneficiaries of the Walk), among others. Sponsors were duly thanked—TimeWarner, NBC 4, Telemundo, Duane Reade, Target, Gap Inc., and Iceland Spring Water, among many others. But the night itself was a great big thank-you to the people who have made AIDS Walks possible this year and in years past. Among those in the spotlight were Star Walkers (who bring in $1,000 or more), Walk Team Leaders, and GMHC staff and volunteers, among others.

John Colucci, a longtime individual Walker and supporter of other AIDS fundraising events, such as Move Against AIDS (another successful GMHC benefit recently produced by Miller and MZA), in the tri-state area, looked ahead to the Walk on May 15, as he explained his responsibilities as one of the newest Team Leaders for Gap Inc., “I help mobilize teams through our corporate e-mail and get people to sign-up; check on people’s [fundraising] progress, and answer questions.” Gap is so involved, says John, that his job is rather effortless.

Gary Cowling, an actor who heads the William and Mary Alumni Association team, offers his reason for team-leading, “I feel like a conduit for all these people to donate money. If I stop [asking], I feel like they’ll stop donating.” Cowling’s team was the university team that brought in the most money last year: “We’re tiny and mighty!” And, ever the enthusiastic recruiters, he and fellow teammate Margaret Burnham, a massage therapist, had signed me up by the end of our interview!

The next day, I logged on to the AIDS Walk’s Web site, joined the William and Mary team, personalized a Web page, and began sending out e-mails asking for donations. (Pledge forms are available for off-line fundraising.) Soon after, I started getting messages alerting me that donations had come in. I started sending out my thank-you’s. [Thanks, Doug and Kurt. Thanks, Rich.]

Los Angeles was the site of the first AIDS Walk in July, 1985. The height of the Reagan/Bush years, Miller reminds. “Knowing how government functions and dysfunctions, it was apparent to me that our federal government was not going to meet its obligation to address this particular public-health emergency. And that was because of indifference, fueled by bigotry and ignorance at the highest levels.”

The AIDS Walk was organized to raise money in a cost-efficient manner, but also “to galvanize people in a public display of commitment to this cause in the hope that it would send a message to government leaders that they needed to act with greater strength and greater compassion in addressing the AIDS crisis.” The response that first year was “surprisingly strong.” Roughly 4,500 “courageous, visionary” people, mostly gays and lesbians, took “to the streets for what at the time was a very unpopular cause.” Over the years, says Miller, the events’ appeal has broadened substantially, “which is obviously very important. It’s not reasonable to think that we can realistically address the HIV crisis here in the U.S. by relying on less than ten percent of the population for support.” [Thanks, Conley family. Thanks, Jeff.]

The Walks are still important political actions, but they have perhaps become “safer, more broadly embraced. I don’t think it takes as much courage for a politician to do the right thing on AIDS as it did back in the mid-eighties. However, it still does take compassion and vision, and those continue to be qualities that are lacking on many levels of government in response to this ongoing public-health emergency,” says Miller.

Andrew Sousa, MZA’s manager of public relations, momentarily drops into our conversation to mention the Vice Presidential debate—when it became apparent that Dick Cheney and his challenger, Senator John Edwards, were both woefully uninformed about the status of HIV/AIDS in the U.S.—and Miller picks up his thread.  “As much as things have changed in regard to HIV/AIDS over the years, some things have remained the same. For example, the public continues to be well ahead of the government in understanding the importance and broad implications of the domestic HIV crisis.” [Thanks, Sherri. Thanks, Ellyn.]

Miller’s present concern is the aforementioned downward trend in fundraising. “If the reaction to harder times in AIDS fundraising is, ‘Let’s invest less; let’s do less; let’s take fewer steps to engage the public because we’re frightened to take the chance,’ then this almost assures a feeding of the downward trend. And that’s exactly what we’ve seen in places like Chicago, Atlanta, and elsewhere. And it’s a tragic mistake, with very real human consequences in terms of service delivery.” The key is not to let fear reverse the momentum of support we have started. [Thanks, Kira. Thanks, Shari and Jason.]

Knowing that AIDS community organizers need to stay “fresh and edgy and compelling” to attract support, Miller says that he and the team at MZA Events, which produces and consults for many other walks and fundraising events, are this year “ratcheting up” their activist tone and imagery. “We do not hold out small and incremental visions to the public. We put forth a broad and challenging vision and we invite the public to join in being bold.” [Thanks, Jo Ann and Joe. Thanks, Sally. Thanks, Nancy.]

He continues: “We are unwilling to accept the current status of HIV in the United States. We are unwilling to accept the diminutive amount of attention that the domestic HIV crisis is receiving. We are unwilling to accept the number of people here in the United States who are HIV-positive and don’t know it. We are unwilling to accept the number of people here in the United States who would benefit greatly by the latest generation of HIV medications but are unable to access them. These shortcomings in the current response to HIV here in the U.S. are completely inexcusable for a country of our wealth and sophistication. We need to keep challenging ourselves and our government and our society as a whole to focus on things that are really important and affect the daily lives of thousands and thousands of people.” [Thanks, Craig; and thanks to the four million contributors, 550,000 participants, and 35,000 volunteers who have gone the extra mile for AIDS Walk New York over the past twenty years.]

If you would like to participate in this year's AIDS Walk New York on May 21, 2006, log on to www.aidswalk.net/newyork.

Chael Needle is Managing Editor of A&U.

Check out A&U’s AIDS Walk video by linking here.

May 2005