Why I Walk

AIDS Walk has always been a very important event to me ever since I knew what an AIDS Walk was. When I first heard of AIDS I didn't really know what it was, just that people were dying and I couldn't sit idely by.

The question was asked, "Why do you walk," at the walker's summit last year. I had never thought about it before. However, a couple of years ago I had the honor to volunteer at the Hope Care Center in Brookside. That visit finally made me realize why I walk.

When I signed up to volunteer for Hope Care Center (a nursing home for AIDS patients), I had no idea what I was going to see. I haven't known anyone with AIDS, and thought the people would be like someone with the first stages of cancer. They look fine on the outside, but are carrying a disease. I tend to be naive.

Everyone had different diseases they were battling, and showed it. I always knew that it's not AIDS that kills you, it's the disease your immune system can't fight off. However, it didn't sink in until then.

Ann Hron of Hope Care Center worked with us that day. She told me so many success stories of people coming to the center in dire straights. Through the love and care of the center those patients were able to move back into their own homes.

Now I know why I walk. I walk for the patients of the Hope Care Center. I walk so that they can have the love and care they need to live a normal life. Even now thinking about Hope Care Center, I get chills because of the magnitude of good they do.

Hope Care Center is located in Brookside. If you have a chance you should definitely take the time to check it out: www.hopecarecenter.org