9th Annual AIDS Hike a Success!
Hundreds walkers and runners raised $60,000 to support AIDS Community Resources (ACR) in the 9th Annual AIDS Hike For Life Sunday, April 29, 2007 at Hamilton College in Clinton, an impressive effort in the fight to stop the spread HIV/AIDS in the Mohawk Valley. Last year, the AIDS Hike For Life raised $52,000.
Hamilton College Class of 2007 President and Chair of the AIDS Hike For Life student committee, Scott Iseman, had a lucrative, if somewhat arduous fundraising tactic. For every $100 dollars in donations, Iseman added 10 pounds of weight to his backpack, which he wore while running the 5 K AIDS Hike For Life course. He raised $660, carried 65 pounds in his backpack, and finished at a brisk pace. “He is the most enthusiastic, the very best Chair we’ve had in the nine years of the AIDS Hike For Life!” said Wil Murtaugh, ACR’s Director of Special Projects/Development.
All of the money donated in the AIDS Hike For Life supports emergency client services and HIV/AIDS Youth Prevention programs like the Teen AIDS Task Force (TATF) in the Mohawk Valley.
TATF is the only school-based HIV prevention education program in New York State. TATF is abstinence-based and works with schools and community groups to prevent infections of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in youth. TATF now has 16 chapters in the Mohawk Valley.
“There is much work to be done in the Mohawk Valley to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS,” Murtaugh said. “Our TATF chapters encourage youth make sound decisions about their health and safety.” AIDS Community Resources wants to thank our sponsors for their invaluable assistance: Empower Federal Credit Union, Data Key Communications, Time Warner Cable, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, Panera Bread, National Grid, Beacon Federal Credit Union, CNY Awards & Apparel, Inc., Jim Ellis Interiors, and The Medicine Shoppe of Ilion.