October 29th, 1997 to November 4th, 1997

AIDS Walk may miss $2 Million Goal

Board expansion target April '98; People of Color Coalition leaders involved

by P. J. Engelbrecht

The $2 million fundraising goal for AIDS Walk 8, which took place Sept. 28, was expected to set an organizational record. Now, AIDS Walk's executive director Paul Hook believes reaching that financial goal may be impossible.

On Oct. 21, Hook estimated that "by the end of the year, we will fall short of our goal. ... Ultimately, I think we'll reach $1.9 million." Hook's revised projection considers all 1997 donations and contributions-both individual and corporate giving of all types. Revenues, such as interest income and sweatshirt sales, account for about $400,000 of the total.

Final numbers will not be available until March 1998, because "sponsorships and donations come in ... through the end of the year," Hook said, although "a very good estimate" will be available as an "unaudited number" around Jan. 1.

AIDS Walk 8 itself drew approximately 60,000 participants to the 6.4-mile lakefront course, along with 600 volunteers. Many walkers were persons with AIDS, clients of AIDS Walk's 12 constituent agencies. Not all walkers had raised pledges; some walked alongside 'official' participants 'for fun.'

Reasons for the charity's anticipated shortfall are impossible to pinpoint, though Hook offered several possibilities. He cited increasing public apathy towards the lengthening 'AIDS crisis' as the No. 1 problem. "John Q. Public ... could believe the crisis is over; [also, it's] year eight of the AIDS Walk, year 17 or 20 of the crisis. ... We're tired. ... People don't see a cure around the corner."

Increasing competition among AIDS fundraisers for charitable dollars may also diminish each group's piece of the pie, according to Hook.

The Sunday of the Walk, the People of Color Coalition (PCC) boycotted the event, as promised. About 25 PCC members and supporters distributed over 2,000 red arm bands to walkers at the step-off. The bands symbolized solidarity with the PCC position that AIDS Walk "discriminates" against communities and people of color by excluding them from the AIDS Walk governing board and from the consortium of 12 agencies which receive most of the funds raised.

Media reports suggesting that most, maybe all the walkers wearing the armbands were ignorant of the symbol's intended meaning were hotly denied by PCC leader Martín González-Rojas. "It wasn't a fashion statement," said González. "[The boycott] certainly was very successful. ... We wanted to do something not disruptive; it was very quietly done ... [and] a lot of people did know about it."

In fact, Hook believes the boycott did have an impact on the Walk-and on the charity's less-than-optimal fundraising this year. "The charges of racism did not help," Hook declared. "There's no way way to gauge the impact [of the boycott], but some people have said 'I'll never do that [Walk] again'." Hook referred to PCC stickers on city buses as one way the boycott was effectively advertised; he declined to specify how many people contacted him directly to say they had joined the boycott and were withdrawing from Walk participation.

Hook still perceives a public relations problem stemming from the boycott and accusations of discrimination. He feels the controversy distracted people from the Walk's true purposes. "All the time spent dealing with charges of racism is time not spent raising money ... [and] ultimately, it's PWA's who ... suffer," as Hook sees it.

González, himself an HIV+ Latino, does not dispute the importance of AIDS Walk as a resource: "We have never questioned the services of the member agencies. ... We just want them to include us at every level."

The PCC boycott apparently has had positive effects on AIDS Walk governance. Coalition demands for increased representation of communities and people of color on the board of directors are being addressed by the board, albeit slowly. When PCC protested at AIDS Walk offices in August, Hook promised that the board would consider how to expand, to become more diversely inclusive; he said the discussions would take place at the September board retreat and regularly scheduled September and October board meetings. Just before the Oct. 21 board meeting, Hook said the board had already "come up with selection criteria [and] a list of names" of potential new board members, and that the board had hired consultants to interview a wide range of Walk board members and volunteers, community group members and other individuals "about input on board expansion" and that the board had then shared the collected information with the interviewees at a recent reception.

PCC leaders Renae Ogletree and Martín González-Rojas were among those asked for input and interviewed, and they are now among those persons being considered for membership on the AIDS Walk board of directors, as are Coalition members Ben Williams and Omar Lopez. Following the Oct. 21 meeting, Hook stated that "four to six" new non-agency-affiliated board members "will be elected to the board at the April [1998] meeting" and installed. To that end, by Dec. 31, the board "will have designed all the [final] interview tools and designed all the [selection] procedures ... and [will have] receive[d] additional candidates in the interview pool." He said that all interested candidates for the board would be interviewed between January and April 1998.

González said the Coalition was pleased with the progress, particularly that AIDS Walk had finally asked PCC for direct input, but he noted that so far, their action has been "just minor." "The question is [that] they are looking for [people to fill] non-member seats. My concern is the power. What role are they gonna play? Advisory, or are they gonna be able to vote? ... We do want qualified people there ... but it will be a waste of time to nominate [any] of us just to play an advisory role," González said.

"The bigger issues still need to be addressed," González explained. "People impacted with HIV need to have a voice at the table ... to be part of the decision-making process-and still we want 45% of total [AIDS Walk] funds to be set aside for [agencies in] communities of color. "We can work more closely with [AIDS Walk] to raise the general public awareness [about HIV/AIDS] ... but we have valid issues that have not been addressed, and [adding] the new seats does not do enough."

Hook continues to maintain that further actions-particularly the addition to the AIDS Walk consortium of HIV/AIDS service agencies in communities of color-cannot be undertaken until the new 'independent' board members are installed, reconstituting the board itself.

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