AIDS Walk raises funds, awareness about disease

Light rain did not deter the crowd from moving and humming to a rendition of the song “Seasons of Love” Saturday afternoon. The well-known anthem from the Broadway musical “Rent” was sung by the Quarryland Men’s Chorus as part of its performance for the Fourth Annual Bloomington AIDS Walk, a walkathon fundraiser to support the fight against AIDS. \nThe walkathon was jointly organized by the IU Student Global AIDS Campaign and Bloomington Hospital Positive Link, a care coordination site for people living with HIV/AIDS. About 120 people turned up at Third Street Park for the AIDS Walk, which raised about $650.\nThis year’s AIDS Walk followed a 5K route just outside of the IU campus. The event was geared towards raising awareness in the fight against AIDS and money to benefit the Bloomington Hospital Positive Link clinic, said Anna Kostrzewsky, co-director of the IU Student Global AIDS Campaign, a student organization that is part of a larger youth network committed to the global fight against AIDS.\n“We also have an educational component,” Kostrzewsky said, “because we have different community groups lined up along the back with their educational tables to promote their health causes and educate the public about these issues.”\nThe event featured performances by the Quarryland Men’s Chorus and IU’s South African gumboot dance group, along with testimonials by the Positive Link clinic’s clients. Free snacks and Starbucks coffee were served as well. \n“It’s really a shame that it’s raining because I think more people would have turned up if it was sunny,” Kostrzewsky said. “But the performances lifted the mood, a little bit, to a happy event and something life affirming.” \nJunior Kavita Nana, treasurer of Student Global AIDS Campaign, agreed and said that she wished the turnout had been better.\n“I’m from South Africa so there are lots of people there who suffer AIDS,” she said. “I think (the reception) was great. I mean the weather wasn’t cooperative, and this is for a great cause.”\nAccording to the AIDS Project’s Los Angeles Web site, the first AIDS Walk took place on July 28, 1985 in Los Angeles. The event has since been emulated all around the country as a means to raise funds for AIDS.\nTerry Turley, a self-proclaimed AIDS survivor and Bloomington Hospital Positive Link client, addressed the crowd prior to the walk and spoke about his experience facing AIDS stigmatization.\n“People with full-blown AIDS find it difficult to get employment,” he said. “The stigma involved makes an HIV-positive person way less employable.”\nTurley speaks at events such as AIDS Walk to advocate social responsibility to enact change in the American health system from a “sick-care basis” to a “maintenance-care basis.” \n“The people in this country are being treated for illnesses; there aren’t any preventative health maintenances like there is in Germany and England and Japan,” he said. “I feel like this would have been caught at an earliest stage if this country had adopted a health maintenance networking place rather than a sick maintenance.”\nAshton Morris, a freshman at Bloomington High School South, was at the walk with his family. He said after the walk that he had enjoyed himself but wished that the weather would have been better.\n“Seems like both years that we done this (the AIDS Walk), it has been rainy,” he said. “But I had fun, and (am) glad to be part of an event that helps the community.”