I participated in the AIDS Walk Washington last weekend with my professional foreign service sorority, Delta Phi Epsilon. It is a 5K fundraising walk and timed run benefiting the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a non-profit community-based health organization which provides dependable, high-quality, comprehensive and accessible health care to those infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.
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| Getting ready for some powerwalkin' |
Some stats:
- The CDC now estimates that more than one million Americans are living with HIV. Up to one-third of them do not know they are HIV-positive.
- It's estimated that one in every 20 adults in the District of Columbia is infected with HIV.
- DC has the highest rate of new AIDS cases per 100,000 people in the United States -- a rate that is 12 times the national average.
- In DC, African-Americans account for eight out of every 10 cases of AIDS.
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| A beautiful day in the neighborhood |
It was a sunny walk down from Freedom Plaza, around the Capitol, and back! The walk raised more than $700,000 for the clinic. My professional sorority was not the only GW student organization to participate- we had representatives from GW's Student Global AIDS Campaign, Voices for Choices, the Generic Theater Company, the Multicultural Student Services Center, Alpha Phi Omega, and Alpha Epsilon Phi! We definitely cheered out Georgetown, American, Howard, and UMD.
What's coming up next on my list of DC events? Stay tuned for my next post.. :) And keep those emails coming! marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu.
- Marisa
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