Orlando – Since 1995, Hope and Help of Central Florida has hit the streets of Downtown Orlando to help raise money and awareness about those affected by HIV/AIDS in the region. This year the AIDS Walk Orlando returns on Saturday, March 29, where participants will walk 1.86 miles starting and ending at the Walt Disney World Amphitheatre at Lake Eola.
Chris Hessler, the events manager for the Hope and Help Center of Central Florida, said one of his favorite parts of the entire day is the initial kickoff of the walk—diverse people from all over the Orlando community come together in support of the HIV/AIDS community.
“Everybody is so jazzed, and there’s so much great energy,” Hessler said. “It’s so cool to see 1,600 walking down the streets of Orlando.”
Hope and Help Center is the largest AIDS service organizations in Central Florida, offering assistance throughout Seminole, Orange, Lake and Osceola counties at its eight various locations. Ninety cents of every dollar raised by the walk goes directly toward client services, and with there being 12,500 Central Floridians living with HIV/AIDS, it allows for the organization to provide different services, including HIV testing.
In 2013, AIDS Walk Orlando raised just over $150,000. This year Hessler hopes to top that with a projected 1,600 participants and a hopeful $160,000 raised. But in the end, Hessler said it is all about Orlando “just coming together and showing the community that the HIV community is just as diverse as the rest of the community.
“It’s also wonderful seeing families, groups, individuals and even pets, full of diversity, coming together,” he added.
Just in 2013 alone, the Hope and Help Center administered more than 5,600 HIV tests to our Central Florida neighbors, reaching out to people also in underserved, high risk areas via their mobile testing unit.
Hessler said that this year Hope and Help had even more sponsors come onboard to support AIDS Walk Orlando. He mentioned how sometimes it is harder to gain sponsors due to the competition of other walks occurring around the same time of the year. Sponsors for AIDS Walk Orlando 2014 include local and national businesses alike, including, Parliament House, Bright House Networks Business Solutions, SunTrust Foundation, Walgreens, WKMG Local 6 and Watermark Media, Inc. among others.
“It’s a great reminder of why I do what I do and makes it all worth it,” Hessler said.
