This Friday at noon, the Scotiabank AIDS Walk will take place in downtown Prince George. Hosted by Positive Living North, the 1.5km walk will begin at Canada Games Plaza and make its way through downtown during the lunch hour.
It’s a national event and will take place in more than 50 communities across the country. 2016 is the 20th anniversary of the first national AIDS WAlk, Since 1996, the event has raised more than $42 million.
The theme for this year’s walk is Keep Calm and Walk On, aimed at breaking down the stigma still associated with the disease.
“Come and join us,” says Vanessa West, executive direct of PLN and a committee member with the Canadian AIDS Society. “You don’t have to pledge, you don’t have to raise funds. Really what we want is raising the awareness in our community. We want people to join in and show their support for people living with HIV.”
West says, while financial support is always appreciated, awareness and community support are crucial as well.
“The fact is it’s so hard to put the goal to include the awareness aspect of it because there’s really not a dollar figure you can put on that. If somebody leaves the AIDS Walk and goes and gets an HIV test or helps break some of the myths, that stuff is worth more than money.”
Last year, the Prince George event raised more than $30,000 in financial and in-kind contributions. West says all funds raised go directly to programs at PLN, including nutrition and activity initiatives.
“We have approximately 130-150 clients that are living with HIV. We do see that when people are faced with so many social barriers and they don’t have that support, we see them go in and out of our community.”
She says exact numbers are hard to come by. According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, northern BC had one of the highest rates of new HIV infections in the province in 2014, the last year for which data is currently available.
West says focussing on breaking down the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS could help improve the quality of life for people living with the disease.
You can find more information about Friday’s event at www.scotiabankaidswalk.ca.