MEDIA ADVISORY: AIDS Walk San Francisco This Sunday, July 15

Click here to download a PDF version of this Media Advisory. 

MEDIA ADVISORY

Contacts:

Brent Colby 
AIDS Walk San Francisco 
415.615.9255                                     
brentc@aidswalk.net                         

Ryan McKeel
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
415.487.3071 
rmckeel@sfaf.org

Northern California’s Largest AIDS Fundraiser
Brings Thousands Together to Fight HIV/AIDS

More than $77 Million Raised for Bay Area AIDS Service Organizations

What:  AIDS Walk San Francisco

Who:   Notable guests include Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch), Adam Shankman (Director and Choreographer), Harry Shum Jr. (Glee), California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, Dan Ashley (ABC-7 News Anchor), Dot-Marie Jones (Glee),  Anna Trebunskaya (Dancing with the Stars), Tony Award Winner Hal Linden (Barney Miller), San Francisco AIDS Foundation CEO Neil Giuliano, cast members from the hit musical “The Scottsboro Boys,” California State Senator Mark Leno, United States Representative Barbara Lee, California State Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Michael Allen, San Francisco County Supervisor Scott Wiener, and San Francisco City Treasurer José Cisneros. 

When: Sunday, July 15, 2012

Opening Ceremony:                9:45 a.m.
Walk Begins:                           10:30 a.m.
Post-Walk Concert:                 12:30 p.m.
Results Announced:                 2:30 p.m. 

Where:  Sharon Meadow, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA

San Francisco, CA, July 9, 2012 – An estimated 25,000 people will gather in Golden Gate Park Sunday, July 15, for the annual AIDS Walk San Francisco (AWSF).  Since 1987, AWSF has raised more than $77 million to fight HIV/AIDS, and organizers expect to deliver millions more on Sunday.

AWSF remains vital to raising awareness about HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area, preventing the spread of the disease, and ensuring all people living with HIV have access to proper care.  Every day in San Francisco, roughly two more people are infected with HIV.  Alarmingly, rates of new HIV infections are rising among gay and bisexual men, the only risk group for which this is the case. 

Valuable funds raised by AIDS Walk participants support the work of San Francisco AIDS Foundation and 45 other important AIDS service organizations across the Bay Area.  Proceeds help the foundation achieve its ambitious goals to reduce new HIV infections by 50% by 2015, ensure all Bay Area residents know their current HIV status, and make certain that all HIV-positive people get the care they need.

EVENT SCHEDULE: AIDS Walk is on – RAIN or SHINE – Sunday, July 15!

8:30 a.m. Media Check-In:

All media can check in to the left of the AIDS Walk stage in Sharon Meadow. Satellite vans and trucks must enter the park at Martin Luther King Drive off Kezar.  Vans and trucks can be parked in the Sharon Arts lot on Bowling Green Drive.  Any media requiring parking must RSVP to Ryan McKeel at 415.487.3071 or rmckeel@sfaf.org by 3 p.m., Friday, July 13.

General Sign-In for the event is in Sharon Meadow at the intersections of Kezar Drive and Kennedy Drive.

Venue map: http://www.aidswalk.net/sites/default/files/uploads/la/PDFs/updated_venue_map.pdf

9:45 a.m. AIDS WALK OPENING CEREMONY (at the stage in Sharon Meadow):

Special guests who will speak at the Opening Ceremony include: Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch), Adam Shankman (Director and Choreographer), Harry Shum Jr. (Glee), California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, Dan Ashley (ABC-7 News Anchor), Dot-Marie Jones (Glee),  Anna Trebunskaya (Dancing with the Stars), Tony Award Winner Hal Linden (Barney Miller) and Neil Giuliano (CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation)   

Special musical performances by:  Cast members from the hit musical “The Scottsboro Boys” performing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”

Elected officials expected to attend include: California Lt. Governor Gavin Newsom, California State Senator Mark Leno, United States Representative Barbara Lee, California State Assembly Assistant Majority Leader Michael Allen, and San Francisco County Supervisor and Scott Wiener

***Best availability for photos and interviews: backstage immediately following the opening ceremony***

10:30 a.m. AIDS WALK BEGINS: Walkers step out onto the route through Golden Gate Park.

12:30 p.m. Post-Walk Concert (at stage): Push (fronted by ABC-7 News Anchor Dan Ashley), Castles in Spain, and The Del Mars

Free & Confidential HIV Testing (behind stage area): Sponsored by Brown and Toland 
Benefiting Organization Fair (at Hippie Hill below the Star Walker tents)
KidZone (near the carousel)

2:30 p.m.       ANNOUNCEMENT OF FUNDRAISING TOTAL (at stage)

Walker registration information: For information about participating in or making a contribution to AIDS Walk San Francisco, please call 415.615.9255 (WALK) or visit www.aidswalk.net/sanfran.

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About San Francisco AIDS Foundation: No city experienced epidemic levels of HIV faster than San Francisco.  At San Francisco AIDS Foundation, we work to end the epidemic where it first took hold, and eventually everywhere. Established in 1982, our mission is to radically reduce new HIV infections in San Francisco.  Through education, advocacy and direct services for prevention and care, we are confronting HIV in communities most vulnerable to the disease. We refuse to accept that HIV transmission is inevitable. For more information, visit www.sfaf.org.

About AIDS Walk San Francisco: Since 1987, AIDS Walk San Francisco has raised more than $77 million for lifesaving HIV prevention, testing, and care programs and services, and has grown into the largest AIDS fundraising event in Northern California.  AIDS Walk San Francisco has become a Bay Area tradition, bringing together tens of thousands of participants and volunteers; hundreds of corporate, community, and friends and family teams; and hundreds of thousands of donors from the Bay Area and across the country.  This year’s event benefits San Francisco AIDS Foundation and dozens of other Bay Area AIDS service organizations.  For more information, visit www.aidswalk.net/sanfran.

About MZA Events: AIDS Walk San Francisco was founded in 1987 by Craig R. Miller and his organization of activists, MZA Events. Miller is the AIDS Walk originator and has produced hundreds of public service campaigns and fundraising events, generating more than $350 million for the major AIDS organizations throughout the country. For more information, please visit www.mzaevents.com.