On Saturday, September 27, the 34th annual AIDS Walk Atlanta & Music Festival raised more than $1.1 million for local HIV and AIDS organizations focused on education, prevention and treatment, according to a news release.

 

This year’s 5K walk in Piedmont Park welcomed at least 3,000 attendees and featured soulful live performances by artists including five-time Grammy winner CeeLo Green and internationally acclaimed trombonist and trumpeter Trombone Shorty.

Georgia has some of the highest HIV rates in the country. In fact, the state ranks fourth in total number of HIV cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

 

The annual fundraiser aims to educate, support and inspire communities living with or at risk for HIV and AIDS. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest nonprofit HIV and AIDS health care organization, hosted this year’s event with support from AHF Pharmacy, Wells Fargo and FedEx.

 

“This annual event offers a time to create a greater awareness of the impact of HIV and AIDS on the local Atlanta community as well as an opportunity to bring together thousands of individuals from across the region to raise critical funds for these 12 worthy organizations,” said AHF Atlanta regional director Felicia Ivey, OTD, MS, said in the release.

In 2023, there were 2,442 new HIV cases and 1,121 new AIDS cases in Georgia, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.  Metropolitan Atlanta has a particularly high HIV rate. In fact, an estimated 43,257 residents were living with HIV in 2022 and nearly 70% of them were Black, according to AIDSvu.org, an interactive site that maps and visualizes HIV data for communities across the nation.

 

AIDS Walk Atlanta directly supports 12 local organizations providing access to lifesaving HIV prevention, testing and treatment, including AID Atlanta, Bridge of Light, Georgia Equality and the Trans Women of Color Healing Project.

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“AHF is proud to present this event as one of the many ways that we educate and empower the local community to join the fight against HIV and AIDS,” Ivey said. “We are thrilled that Trombone Shorty will join us to elevate this important cause.”

 

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