Your plans for the morning of Saturday, June 1st have just been confirmed. So grab your best bedazzled shirt, your most colorful socks and shoes and join us at the Roger Williams Park Carousel for the 33rd annual AIDS Run/Walk for Life! You can now register to run or walk at www.aidswalkforlife.org. Runners for the 5K will get an event T-shirt and medal. Walkers who raise $25 or more will also get a T-shirt. In addition, we will be awarding prizes to top runners, top fundraisers, as well as those with the most dazzling costumes.
This year, the Run/Walk for Life unofficially kicks off Pride Month and takes place just two weeks before Rhode Island Pride. In that spirit, we made our theme for 2019 “Stride for Pride & Show Your True Colors!” This June is also the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which ushered in the modern-day fight for LGBTQ equal rights.
Public support for the Run/Walk for Life through fundraising efforts of supporters like you helps us sustain critically needed programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, such as our food pantry and hot meal program, dental care, emergency financial assistance, and housing support. These are programs that are currently threatened due to massive state budget cuts to HIV/AIDS service organizations. Without your support we will be forced to do the unthinkable—cut back or eliminate programs on which our most vulnerable clients rely.
Nearly 2,700 people are currently living with HIV/AIDS in the Ocean State, and HIV continues to disproportionately affect low-income and minority communities, particularly young gay and bisexual men and women of color. On a brighter note, many tools exist that can help make getting to zero new HIV infections a reality. “Undetectable = Untransmittable,” for example, is a global campaign that educates the public that a person with HIV who is on medication and achieves an undetectable viral level cannot pass the virus to a partner. In addition, tools such as PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) are up to 99% effective in preventing transmission in HIV-negative individuals.
APRI will also be offering free HIV and hepatitis C testing at the Run/Walk, and other community-based organizations will be part of the day’s activities.
If you have questions about the event, please call us at 401-831-5522 or email us at info@aidsprojectri.org.
We look forward to having you join us!
xo- The team at APRI