Vol. 39, No. 49 Section 01 Tallahassee, Florida Dec. 5-11, 2013

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Moving for a Cause: 23rd Annual Tallahassee AIDS Walk and 5K/10K Run

By Aldranon English II

Outlook Writer

Scores of individ-uals came to sup-port and participate in the 23rd Annual Tallahassee AIDS Walk and 5K/10K Run on Nov. 23 in Southwood.

Big Bends Cares’ fall event attracts crowds of runners and walkers each year. Community members, educa-tional groups and faith groups col-lect pledges for Big Bend Cares, and then come together for a morning of healthy exercise and camaraderie. The event is or-chestrated to create awareness and raise money for the treat-ment of HIV – the virus that causes AIDS. Funds raised by the AIDS Walk & 5K/10K Run stay in the Big Bend to serve more than 900 individuals affected by HIV/AIDS.

Michelle Hayse, director of devel-opment and sup-port services of

Big Bend Cares, is optimistic about the turnout for the event.

“We’re hoping to reach $30,000 in funds and dona-tions,” said Hayes. “We have a little over $22,000 on-line, but we’re hoping to surpass $25,000 before the event.”

The fundraiser re-quired registration, but invitations were extended to every-one who wished to participate. Pre- registration fees were $15 for run-ners and walkers, children under 12 years of age were free to participate. Admittance fees on the day of the event

were $20. The mon-ey collected by Big Bend Cares is used to support people infected with AIDS through there many auxiliary programs and services which includes housing assistance, mental health counseling and prevention edu-cation.

Admission in-cluded an official AIDS Walk & 5k/10k Run T-shirt. Participants had the choice to enter ei-ther as individuals or as teams. Teams designated a cap-tain and registered online creating a team name. People are able to sign un-der the team of their preference. This is the second year

that the 10k run will

be included in the event.

“We received a lot of feedback that brought out additional runners from last year and we hope to see an increase in partici-pants,” said Hayse.

The fundraiser also awarded prizes to teams and indi-

viduals who raised

additional funds.

There were many sponsors on hand at the event. Mail Meds Clinical Phar-macy was one of the biggest contrib-utors and is also a big supporter of Big Bend Cares. Other contributors includ-ed AHFPharmacy.org and the South Eastern Center for

Infectious Diseases

along with 30 other advocates and busi-nesses.

“We get a pretty good following for sponsorship and volunteers,” said Hayse.

Participants from various ages and backgrounds came

Photos by Aldranon English IIScores of Leon County residents came out to take part in the 23rd Annual Tallahassee AIDS Walk and 5K/10K Run.

see AIDS, page 2

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out to show their support. Allen Jo-seph, a 54 year-old professor at Talla-hassee Community College, expresses his pleasure and shares his experi-ence at the event. “The camaraderie

is great here. They (Big Bend Cares) put on a very great walk and I hope they raise some good funds,” said Joseph. “There are a lot of races out there, so it is hard to get new events going. But, they are putting in good

events year after year, and I think this one will con-tinue to grow.”

Eliakim “Eli” Nortelus is a 37-year-old consul-tant and lobbyist. He works for Aker-man Senterfitt, one of the top 100 law

firms in the United States by The Na-tional Law Journal (NLJ). Nortelus sur-mised his reason for participating in this year’s fundraiser in one simple statement.

“I came here just to support,” said Nor-telus. This was Nor-telus’ first time par-ticipating in the event

and he looks forward to next year. “To be part of the community and help out anyway I can; I am all for it. The turnout was great; adults, kids and even dogs ran in the event.”

Nortelus, along with other partici-pants, expects great things to come for

the event in the near future.

“I think that the more word gets out each year, the big-ger the event will be-come,” he said.

AIDS CONTI-