May 8, 2009 7:52 pm US/Eastern
CBS 2 Sponsors Sunday's AIDS Walk New York
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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CBS 2 HD announced Feb. 27, 2009, that it had become the exclusive broadcast media partner for AIDS Walk New York, to be held May 17, 2009. It is the largest AIDS walk in the United States.
AIDS Walk New York
It's the biggest fundraiser of the year for the nation's oldest AIDS service organization. This year's AIDS Walk New York is just days away.
The Gay Men's Health Crisis is getting set for the big event next Sunday. The walk helps fund the agency's outreach programs that serve thousands of people every year.
From HIV and AIDS support groups to legal, housing and employment, assistance services, the GMHC has evolved since it was founded 28 years ago.
"People came to GMAC essentially to die and our work was to help them die with dignity. Today, primarily because of medications, people are living," says Dr. Marjorie Hill, the CEO of the GMHC. "There is still no cure, there is no vaccine."
Kevin Beauchamp is a GMHC hotline volunteer, but he came in as a client. The former flight attendant was diagnosed with HIV in 1991 and AIDS in 1996 as well as CMV retinitis. Then, his life expectancy was nine weeks, but he took part in many leading-edge drug trials.
"I had the good fortune to keep on living and although I lost my vision, I'm very fortunate to be here today and to be able to talk to people about it," he said.
The city says 100,000 New Yorkers are living with HIV and thousands more don't know they have it. Lillibeth Gonzalez was in the dark 17 years ago. Her husband at the time had AIDS and didn't tell her for two years.
"I had so much trust in him, this is the problem. We trust our spouses, we trust our partners. You can't trust anyone! HIV does not give you that trust," Gonzalez says.
She now leads a support group for Latinas. She says GMHC helped restore her self-esteem and as always, she'll be at the AIDS walk. So will GMCH outreach volunteer Thomas Powell, who contracted AIDS in 2006.
"I feel great that I am able to now give something back because I lost a lot," he says.
But Powell is back on his feet and credits GMHC as a lifesaver in so many ways. He'll be there next Sunday for the 10K walk and so will CBS 2. It's our first year as the broadcast sponsor. This year, 45,000 people are expected to participate.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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