Los Angeles

10,000 People Expected at AIDS Walk LA Sunday

Organizers expect 10,000 people to walk 10 kilometers though downtown Los Angeles Sunday for the 34th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles, raising funds for HIV/AIDS service organizations.

The walk will start at 10 a.m. in Grand Park. The opening ceremony will begin at 9:15 a.m. featuring celebrities, musical performances and HIV/AIDS activists and leaders.

Television personality Carson Kressley, three-time Emmy-winning actress Jean Smart and actress-singer Frenchie Davis are scheduled to attend the opening ceremony.

Post-walk festivities will begin at 12:30 p.m. at Grand Park, headlined by Australian singer-songwriter and musician Betty Who and singer-actor-drag performer Todrick Hall.

The proceeds from the walk benefit APLA Health, a nonprofit, federally qualified health center serving more than 15,000 people annually, according to its director of communications, Alex Medina, and more than 20 other HIV/AIDS service organizations.

APLA Health provides 20 services from 16 locations in Los Angeles County including medical, dental and mental health care; counseling and management for the use of antiviral drugs to prevent HIV/AIDS, commonly known as PrEP; health education and HIV prevention; and screening and treatment for people with sexually transmitted diseases.

APLA Health also provides food, housing support, benefits counseling, home health care and other services for people living with and affected by AIDS and the human immunodeficiency virus which causes AIDS.

AIDS Walk Los Angeles was the world's first fundraising walk to benefit organizations dealing with AIDS.

The inaugural walk in 1985 began at Paramount Pictures, then moved to West Hollywood because of security concerns following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It was first held in downtown Los Angeles in 2016.

Since its inception, the walk has raised more than $82 million, Medina said.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
Contact Us