Everything came together wonderfully for this year’s AIDS Walk Delaware! September 27th was a perfect autumn day with sunshine and a cool, gentle breeze. Between the Walks held in Rehoboth Beach and Wilmington, AIDS Walk raised more than $140,000!
It takes many people to make for a successful community event, and that’s true for AIDS Walk Delaware, too. I want to thank my colleagues at the Delaware HIV Consortium and AIDS Delaware for their support. A special thank you goes out to Sharyn Warwick, who as a community member has helped with the AIDS Walk in Sussex County for the past ten years. Thanks to McCrery and Harra Funeral Homes and to Rebekah Parsons for supplying refreshments for our walkers. PhotoBomb of Delaware brought their photo booth and gave Walkers free photos complete with the AIDS Walk logo on them. For the tenth year in a row, Jimmy Windsor (Windsor’s Flowers) donated all of the red carnations used at our Memorial Moment. Hugh Fuller and our friends at the Purple Parrot gave us gift certificates for walkers who raised more than $1,000. Last but not least is Walgreens, who came to the walk and offered free flu shots. They also presented us with a check for $20,094 for the red ribbons they sold in their stores.
Thanks also to CAMP Rehoboth for promoting the Walk, and the Volunteer on Vacation program for providing more than a dozen people to help us the day of the walk. CAMP didn’t just talk the talk; it walked the walk, too! The CAMP Rainbow Walkers, under the direction of Team Captain Sal Seeley, raised $7,930 for this year’s Walk, putting it third among the teams raising the most money this year. Half of that money will come back to CAMP Rehoboth, to support the CAMPsafe Program.
Thank you to the community, to all of you who walked, to all of you who sponsored walkers, to all of you who continue to care about HIV/AIDS in our world. We couldn’t have done this without you!
Glen C. Pruitt
Rehoboth AIDS Walk Coordinator