SAAF’s Walk for Life Marks 25 Years
The San Antonio AIDS Foundation’s Walk for Life comes at a monumental year as the foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary - though the milestone is a mixed blessing. HIV/AIDS still prevails in San Antonio and across the world, and foundations like SAAF work hard to care for those who are ill, give tests and help educate about safe sex. Regina Villalobos, the foundation’s marketing director, said she would like to see the day when there is a cure and she’s put out of a job. “We have a motto around here,” she said. “Keep at it until we’re not needed anymore.”
The Walk for Life is one of SAAF’s biggest annual events for raising money and bringing awareness to HIV/AIDS in San Antonio. A lot has changed since the Walk for Life started in the early 90’s at the height of the AIDS scare. In those days, it was a really big crowd that walked through downtown San Antonio. “I wish [the Walk] was bigger again for awareness,” Villalobos said. While the Walk still draws a crowd in the hundreds, it has shrunk down and moved to Woodlawn Lake Park. Villalobos says it may be because people don’t publicly talk about HIV/AIDS as much anymore. “People forget about it. They think there’s a cure, and we have to tell them ‘No, there’s not.’”
Last year’s Walk raised around $50,000. Villalobos encourages individuals and teams to register online at the SAAF website at www.txsaaf.org. The event will take place at Woodlawn Lake Park along with entertainment and on-sight HIV/AIDS testing. Ted Garcia of KABB and former San Antonio radio deejay Crystal Stone will emcee the event.
Crystal Stone has been a dedicated donor to the foundation, and her own annual benefit auction to raise money for SAAF celebrates its 10th anniversary. The auction predates the Walk for Life this month on Sept. 9th at the Bermuda Triangle nightclub. Items to be auctioned off include celebrity-autographed guitars, concert tickets and other items. She uses the event to both raise money and to promote SAAF’s Walk for Life. “San Antonio has, over the years, been a place that’s afraid to even mention the word ‘AIDS,’” Stone said. “I do believe we are getting closer to a cure. My goal is to get to the point where we don’t have to do these fundraisers anymore.”
Fighting against AIDS is a mission Stone takes personally. Her own heterosexual sister Jo Ellen was diagnosed with the virus in 1991 at 41 years old. Stone, who is lesbian, admits that when she came out to her family, her sister warned her about contracting AIDS. Jo Ellen died in 1996. Based on numbers from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, nearly 8,000 people in Bexar County are infected with HIV/AIDS. SAAF is the only licensed HIV/AIDS care facility in South Texas. Funds raised by the Walk for Life and the Crystal Stone Benefit Auction go directly to SAAF. Any donations that can be made will be greatly appreciated.
The SAAF’s Walk for Life 2011
8:30 - 11:30 AM
Saturday, Sept. 17th
Woodlawn Lake Park
San Antonio, TX
http://www.txsaaf.org/
(210) 225-4715
The Crystal Stone
SAAF Auction 2011
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Friday, Sept. 9th
Bermuda Triangle Nightclub
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