Save Lives By Supporting Virtual AIDSWALK Tucson 2020

Large red ribbons witht he word "REemember" are displayed along a sidewalk for HIV awareness

By Rachel McMenamin, Grants Coordinator at the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation

As most things look different during this pandemic, so will the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation’s annual AIDSWALK Tucson. For the safety of walkers, volunteers, clients, staff and our community, this year’s AIDSWALK has gone virtual. SAAF will host a week long AIDSWALK celebration from October 12-18. All activities will be held virtually and walkers are encouraged to walk individually in any way and any place they choose to walk. 

While AIDSWALK may look different, what remains the same is our community’s commitment to coming together to bring an end to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. What remains the same is our community’s commitment to making sure our immunocompromised neighbors living with HIV/AIDS have access to care, housing, food and community.  

During this pandemic, people living with HIV are living in fear for their health, for their safety, for their access to basic needs such as food, shelter, hygiene and human connection. During this pandemic it is clearer now more than ever that we need the testing, the prevention efforts, and the community education to bring the HIV/AIDS epidemic to an end. 

Here’s how you can help support your immunocompromised neighbors and help to bring HIV to an end. Join in the fun of fundraising and walking for a cause that saves lives.  Join SAAF for AIDSWALK Celebration Week this October 12-18. Here’s how: 

  1. Register online at www.aidswalktucson.org: Once you register, you will receive emails and updates providing you with more information about AIDSWALK, tips and tricks for fundraising and ideas for your walk.  
  2. Set a fundraising Goal: Setting a goal for your fundraising efforts will give you something to work towards and celebrate when you surpass it. 
  3. Invite Friends and Family to join you: Make a walking team and invite friends and family to join. 
  4. Fundraise to meet your goal: Share why you walk on your social media channels. 
  5. Attend SAAF’s drive through registration event: On October 12 and 13 drive to SAAF’s main office at 375 S. Euclid Ave. Signs will direct cars to the back of the building where you may pick up incentives and t-shirts and interact safely with vendors. Drop off any extra donations from your fundraising efforts.  
  6. Tune into SAAF’s Social Media throughout the week of October 12-18 for access to virtual programming: Raise awareness and learn more about HIV/AIDS and prevention efforts in a fun and interactive way. We will also be live streaming the traditional AIDS Memorial Quilts Ceremony to remember and honor those we have lost to AIDS.
  7. AIDSWALK Your Wheels: Decorate your cars/bikes/skates to show your support for AIDSWALK for the week of October 12-18. 
  8. Walk. Run. Have Fun:  Once you register, you can walk whenever you want. Be creative and walk as far as you want and where you want. Walk in a park, go for a run around the block, walk on a treadmill, walk in your house. The possibilities are endless! 
  9. Take Selfies and share your walk on social media: Please take selfies of you walking and supporting this year’s AIDSWALK. You are invited to share your selfies in an email with SAAF’s Events Manager Jess Patrick at jpatrick@saaf.org  and please share your photos on social media using the hashtag #AIDSWALKTucson2020.
  10. 10.Make a gift at www.saaf.org/donate: SAAF is uniquely positioned to address the needs of HIV-positive individuals whose safety, health, and very lives are threatened by this pandemic. Your gift to SAAF can save lives.

Prizes will be given to walkers who raise the most money as individuals or teams. For any questions about this year’s AIDSWALK, please contact SAAF’s Events Manager, Jess Patrick at jpatrick@saaf.org. SAAF is especially grateful to the generous sponsors of this year’s walk: TEP, Walgreens and GEICO.

Share the Love with SAAF’s Home-Bound Clients


Did you know that 92% of SAAF’s Food Program participants have extremely low and very low incomes and rely on our programs not just to avoid hunger, but to receive appropriate, nutrient-dense foods necessary to maintain their health and prevent HIV disease symptoms and medication side effects? Individuals living with HIV and their families face a number of challenges, including managing their chronic condition combined with impaired productivity, declining income, and increasingly difficult choices among essential but competing expenses, such as food versus healthcare or schooling versus rent.
In partnership with Meals on Wheels and other organizations, SAAF follows the “Food as Medicine” philosophy, enabling us to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS in our service area have access to the nutrition they need to stay as healthy as possible, no matter their condition or financial situation. Living with a chronic condition is never easy, but the right nutrition helps improve an individual’s health. It’s a joy for us to know that our clients are able to have healthy and filling meals when they need it most.

OUR PROGRAMS

  • Food for Life – Nutritious, home-cooked meals made and delivered to home-bound clients. This program also includes emergency meals and weekly group meals served at SAAF.
  • Food Pantry and Harvest – Monthly food boxes with fresh items for clients in need. Access to the Food Pantry as needed throughout the month.

When clients participate in any of these programs based on their unique needs, we see clients who are more likely to keep medical appointments, stay on their antiretroviral medications, report fewer emergency room visits, spend fewer days in inpatient care, have fewer nursing home stays, and score higher on health measures.
SAAF is proud to be a participating network partner with Meals on Wheels to support our food programs. For the eleventh year running, the Meals on Wheels network is participating in the Subaru Share the Love Event. Over the past ten years, Subaru and its retailers have helped Meals on Wheels to deliver nearly 2 million meals nationwide.
We’re incredibly grateful to Subaru and its retailers for supporting Meals on Wheels, our organization, and the clients we serve. With that in mind, we thought you might want to learn a little bit more about the Subaru Share the Love Event.

HOW IT WORKS

This November 15, 2018, through January 2, 2019, for every new Subaru vehicle purchased or leased, Subaru will donate $250 to the customer’s choice of participating charities.* Meals on Wheels is one of four national participating charities and has been since the inception of the event. Through this event, as a member of Meals on Wheels America, SAAF will receive a share of the donation from Subaru vehicles sold in Arizona to help us further our food programs.
You might not be in the market to purchase a new car, but if you are, please look into the Subaru Share the Love Event to learn more. If you’re not shopping for a new vehicle, you can still help by spreading the word to your family and friends. A few quick and easy ways to do that:

And remember: this holiday season you can ensure our community members in need are not forgotten, when you buy or lease a new Subaru and select Meals on Wheels as your charity of choice.
*Disclaimer: Subaru will donate $250 for every new Subaru vehicle sold or leased from November 15, 2018, through January 2, 2019, to four national charities designated by the purchaser or lessee. Pre-approved Hometown Charities may be selected for donation depending on retailer participation. Certain participating retailers may make an additional donation to the Hometown Charities selected. Purchasers/lessees must make their charity designations by January 31, 2019. The four national charities will receive a guaranteed minimum donation of $250,000 each. See your local Subaru retailer for details or visit subaru.com/share. All donations made by Subaru of America, Inc.