‘Thriving and surviving:’ Thousands fighting back against AIDS with annual Atlanta walk

ATLANTA — Thousands of people gathered in Atlanta on Saturday morning to help keep awareness for AIDS top of mind as researchers continue fighting for a cure.

Channel 2′s Bryan Mims was there as people participated in the 33rd annual AIDS Walk Atlanta.

For more than 30 years, they have beaten a path toward a more abundant and stigma-free life.

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It’s a life personified by 65-year-old Tammie Kinney, who’s been HIV-positive for 38 years.

“Thriving and surviving and all of the above,” she said with a laugh.

Back in the mid-1980s, HIV and AIDS were a new and scary thing.

“I think sometimes, when we look at the eighties, people think about dying – a death sentence. But we are the evidence that we are living healthy, productive lives,” she said.

There are new medications, new therapies and new attitudes, but the walk is a reminder of the miles yet to go before the finish line.

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More than 2,000 people showed up at Piedmont Park to raise money and awareness. All the funds raised from this 5-kilometer walk and run will benefit 13 Metro Atlanta nonprofits that care for and work with people living with HIV and AIDS.

“Day to day, [they] are doing the lifesaving, transformative work to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our community,” said Imara Canady, a spokesperson for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which hosts the walk.

Philip Rafshoom has set foot in the walk every year since the beginning. “I walk for my friends who have passed away and just to give hope to people that we are sticking up for them,” he said.

The fundraising goal this year is $1 million. Donations can be made online through October 31 here.

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