Everyday, AIDS Action Committee takes steps to provide vital prevention, advocacy and client services in our community. Twenty-Five days from today, on Sunday June 1st, we hope that you will join us and over 12,000 participants to take steps to raise funds and awareness and work towards ending HIV/AIDS.

You have 25 days before the Walk; sign up TODAY to ensure that you are able to take advantage of our valuable fundraising resources. Visit www.aidswalkboston.org and register to Walk, Run or Volunteer. After registering, you will receive a personal webpage, user-friendly, online participant center, and packet with pledge sheets, buttons and magnets to help you in your fundraising efforts. We are looking forward to seeing you in 25 days, on June 1st, as we don our walking shoes and join together to support AIDS Action Committee’s 25 years providing vital programs and services to the community.

We are thrilled to have Whole Foods Market return for the fourth year as our Wellness Festival Sponsor. Be sure to visit their tent at the Wellness Festival after the Walk and sample some tasty treats from over 15 of their vendors.

Whole Foods has shown its support for the Walk through sponsorship and also through the fundraising and participation of employees. This year, fifteen Whole Foods Stores in the Greater Boston area are supporting AIDS Action Committee through their coupon program. Throughout the month of May, you can make a donation to AIDS Walk Boston and AIDS Action Committee when you check out.  All of the registers will carry coupons to add a $2 or $5 donation to your total and 100% of the funds received go to the Walk.

Next time you visit your local Whole Foods store; please consider adding a coupon at the checkout!

Each week the AIDS Walk Boston Blog will profile one of our programs at AIDS Action Committee. The money raised by the Walk is crucial for supporting these vital programs. 

This week we spoke with Mark Forry, Program Manager at The MALE Center:

Three years ago, the MALE Center was born out of community dialogues lead by members of the AIDS Action Committee Board of Directors. During those conversations, the most resonant need identified was a place for men to gather that felt safe and particularly their own. 

In June of 2005, The MALE Center opened its doors at 571 Columbus Ave. Since opening, The MALE Center has evolved into a diverse mix of programming aimed at the many causal factors involved with HIV and STD transmission.  A staff of six and an army of twenty-six volunteers address these factors through several programs: free rapid HIV testing and counseling services, HIV prevention specialists, and sex life coaching.

The central program at the MALE Center is called Community PROMISE. Staff or volunteers head out to the bars and clubs to distribute safer sex kits and information to help countless men access HIV counseling and testing services offered at the Center.

Resist Meth, our Crystal Methamphetamine prevention program, is an innovative collaboration between AIDS Action, Latino Health Institute and Fenway Community Health. Through this program men are trained to be peer educators called New Champions. The New Champions go out into their social networks to disseminate information about around reducing substance use and abuse and offer support to their peers.

In addition to our commitment to reducing the number of new HIV infections among men who have sex with men, The MALE Center is dedicated to strengthening the ties that bind Gay and Bisexual men.  Social programs are offered as a space for men to connect; feeling part of the larger community is just one more way men can learn to advocate for their own health needs. Examples of these programs are the Gay and Bi Men’s monthly reading group as well as GAyME night, a monthly game night for guys. The biggest event, called Bridging the Gap is a social night held one Friday a month where men gather for drinks and light fare served in a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere; a place for men to meet up aside from crowded and noisy bars.

Funds raised through AIDS Walk Boston support programs like The MALE Center, please register or donate today to help us continue these vital services.

Jonathan McIntyre has been walking since the very first Walk in 1986, which took place only 4 weeks after his big brother, Jimmy “Mack” McIntyre, lost his battle with AIDS. Over the years, Jon has participated with his mother, with his friends, or even on his own, and has run in the Larry Kessler 5K Run each year since it began in 2001. He has missed only 2 Walks in 23 years.

When Jimmy was first diagnosed with HIV, he began to volunteer as a spokesperson for AIDS Action Committee and became very involved in the cause. So, after his death, the AIDS Walk came at just the right time for Jon and his mother, Paula, to honor Jimmy and deal with their sadness by making a difference.

“If not for the Walk, I wouldn’t have had an outlet for the energy coming from the frustration at not having been able to prevent my brother’s death,” he says. “That frustration could have eaten me up, but the Walk gave me a way to express and channel all that energy toward something positive.”

For Jon, Walk day is a time to honor and remember those we have lost, and to connect with others for a common cause.  “[The Walk] creates a feeling of family with all the diverse people around you… On that day, you are united in a single purpose, like a single family.”

What inspires you to Walk?

The Phoenix’s Editors’ Picked AIDS Walk Boston for “Best Way To Become Saint-like (Without Becoming Sanctimonious)”

“Every step you take makes a difference in fighting the HIV/AIDS threat, which may be all the more dangerous because too many people are becoming too blasé about this scourge….”

Our thanks to the Phoenix for recognizing the work that our walkers, runners and volunteers to help raise awareness and funds! If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s just one more reason why…

To view the article, click here.

Are you looking for fundraising encouragement for yourself or your team? Be creative in motivating your team! One Team Captain is hosting a post-Walk picnic for his teammates, friends and family members who supported him and donated to his Walk efforts. The Team Captain reflects, “It’s a little thank you for everyone who helped out and supported us in our fundraising efforts.”  Tell us what your Team is doing to stay motivated, raise awareness, and show appreciation to supporters!

Share your ideas and learn from fellow Walkers by attending one of our participant workshops at 6:00PM May 5th and 15th. Please RSVP to walkinfo@aac.org; we are looking forward to hearing your fundraising innovations.

AIDS Action Committee is proud to welcome back the Macy’s Foundation as AIDS Walk Boston 2008’s presenting sponsor! Macy’s strong dedication to raising awareness and funds for the programs and services of AIDS Action Committee is always evident at the Walk. This commitment is illustrated not only by the outpouring of support from Macy’s but by the crowds of Macy’s employees, friends, and families who participate in the event.

This year, thirty-two locations throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island are participating in the Walk. With the dedicated leadership from each store manager, Macy’s is working to make AIDS Walk Boston 2008 bigger and better than ever.