AU students raised more than $13,000 for the Whitman-Walker Clinic at Saturday's AIDS Walk Washington, according to the event's Web site.
AU Fights AIDS!, the AU team that participated in the walk Saturday morning, had the largest number of participants - 280 - in the walk and was fifth in fundraising with $13,173.04. The Whitman-Walker Clinic was the most successful fundraising group for the walk, raising a total of $26,594, according to the Web site.
AU Fights AIDS! was the most profitable college or university group, according to ReGina Newkirk, director of communications and development for Whitman-Walker.
"I really want to put stress on the ability of the university-aged participants' involvement in this event because we really tried to outreach the college community," Newkirk said.
Eighteen AU groups joined the effort, which Women's Initiative members Ravenna Motil-McGuire, a sophomore in the School of International Service, and Melodi Sampson, a junior in SIS, helped to lead the initiative.
This was the first year that AU groups worked together in a united front, according to Motil-McGuire.
"We wanted to create a medium by which all of AU could come together and share their passion for the issue," she said.
Motil-McGuire and Sampson had worked since July to coordinate the teams, which included groups ranging from Greek organizations to sports teams, Motil-McGuire said.
Groups raised funds through a dunking booth at the Breastival, change jars in the residence halls, letter-writing campaigns, posting fliers and a Treble in Paradise benefit show, according to Women's Initiative Director Vanessa Mueller and Motil-McGuire.
"We understand that a lot of college students don't really have a lot of money to throw around, but we wanted to show that you can make a difference in numbers ... 15 to 20 bucks at a time really add up to a gigantic chunk of change," Mueller said.
While most students who participated from AU only donated the required $15 registration feeaccording to the event's Web site, some put forth a great effort to raise more.
"I sent e-mails to family and friends and posted in my blog to try to get people to donate," said Alex Priest, a freshman in the Kogod School of Business who raised a total of $240. "It sounded like a good cause, and being from a small town, there aren't many opportunities to be active in things that can help the community and the world."
Meghan Loehr, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, raised $1,290, also by sending e-mails to family and friends.
"I'm from San Francisco and my dad is gay, so I know a lot of people who I wanted to support," she said.
Other students also had personal reasons for joining the walk.
Motil-McGuire traveled to South Africa over the summer to work with AIDS organizations.
"I returned from that really energized and also frustrated with the lack of engagement we have with AIDS in our country," she said.
D.C. has a higher infection rate than most sub-Saharan African countries - one in 20 D.C. residents has the virus, said Kevin Ballie, a member of Queers and Allies and a sophomore in SIS. Like Motil-McGuire, he has worked with AIDS organizations in South Africa.
AIDS is an important issue for District colleges since half of new infections occur in people under the age of 25, said Jennifer Burke, education director for Women's Initiative's HIV/AIDS Outreach Task Force and a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences.
"I think that it's the biggest problem of our generation, and I think that we're trying to step up and show that we care about it," she said.
The task force is planning other events for this year, including an AIDS week on campus, according to Motil-McGuire.
Motil-McGuire said AU Fights AIDS! is already gearing up for next year.
"AU Fights AIDS! '08 will be double the size and raise double the money," she said.
The walk benefited the Whitman-Walker Clinic, a nonprofit community provider of health care in the D.C. metropolitan area. While providing medical and dental health care, the clinic also tries to meet the needs of those living with HIV or AIDS as well as gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members of the community, according to Chip Louis, media relations manager for Whitman-Walker.
So far, close to $730,000 has been raised through the AIDS Walk, but donations are still being collected throughout the week, according to the Web site.
In its three locations in the District and Northern Virginia, Whitman-Walker also offers mental health and addictions treatments, HIV education and testing, legal services and a food bank, according to the Web site.
All proceeds benefit the clinic for furthering HIV/AIDS treatment and research.
This year, the event started with its first annual 5K run. There were roughly 1,500 runners and 6,000 walkers, according to Newkirk.
Participants registered as individuals or as teams of 10 or more people, which maximizes fundraising abilities. All participants registered online, according to Louis.
Groups consisted of people from various neighborhoods, public schools, universities, faith-oriented organizations and legal communities. Over 500 teams registered for this year's walk, Louis said.
The first AIDS Walk Washington was held in 1987, but it was organized independently and did not solely benefit the Whitman-Walker Clinic, Louis said.
In 1992, more than 20,000 people participated in AIDS Walk Washington and made that year's event the first $1 million AIDS fundraiser.
"We are on par right now to have the most successful walk since 1999," Louis said. "[The event] hit a downturn in 2000 and 2001, but it's been on a steady upswing since and has been improving each year"
