Award Winning Artists Come Out for Spring Break Walk & Music Festival Raising Over $1.5 Million in the Local Fight Against AIDS

AHF’s 14th annual Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival on March 23rd raised over $1.5million benefitting 10 non-profits that provide HIV/AIDS services in South Florida, the nation’s epicenter for HIV.

Fort Lauderdale (March 24, 2019) – Multi Grammy award-winning, reggae artist Shaggy and the Queen of bounce music, Big Freedia joined a diverse line-up of performers on Saturday, March 23rd for the 2019 Florida AIDS Walk and Music Festival.  Taking place at Fort Lauderdale’s South Beach Park as a part of the spring break festivities, this annual event kicked off with a 5K walk culminating in a day-long music festival to raise awareness and funds for HIV/AIDS services throughout South Florida, the epicenter of HIV in the U.S.

Presented by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest non-profit, global HIV/AIDS organization, Saturday’s event attracted over 3,000 attendees from across the region, including Fort Lauderdale Mayor, Dean Trantalis.  Supported by an array of corporate partners including AHF Pharmacy, a national chain of pharmacies supporting US & global HIV care, and Wells Fargo, the Florida AIDS walk, raised over $1.5 million dollars in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  Now in it’s14th year, it has become a highly anticipated event aimed at increasing South Florida’s awareness, prevention, and treatment efforts against the spread of HIV.

Joining the line-up with Shaggy and Big Freedia  were rock-and-roll sensation, The Struts, Grammy-nominated duo, Coastcity, and South Florida’s own Deep Fried Funk Band.  The event was hosted by celebrity DJ’s Tracy Young and DJ Alex Ferbeyre and drag queen extraordinaire, Kitty Meow.

“Given South Florida’s ranking nationally as the epicenter for HIV, we are pleased to present this annual event that both raises awareness about the HIV epidemic and significant dollars to support 10 non-profit organizations that are entrenched in the community, working to address this devastating epidemic,” stated Michael Kahane, AHF Southern Bureau Chief. “We thank all of the amazing performers, corporate partners, team captains, individuals raising funds and the thousands of attendees, for their support.”

The event helps to remind the community that HIV/AIDS is still impacting our community by increasing the community’s awareness, education, and prevention efforts all with the objective of reducing the spread of HIV.  Organizations benefiting from the 2019 event include:

AQUA

SAVE

SUNSERVE

POVERELLO

THE PRIDE CENTER AT EQUALITY PARK

LATINOS SALUD

THE WORLD AIDS MUSEUM AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER

PRIDELINES

URBAN LEAGUE OF BROWARD COUNTY

Other event sponsors include: Cardinal Health, Ameritech Solutions, All In One Electric, Macy’s, TCGRx, Quest Diagnostics, CDW, iHeart Media and South Florida Gay News

HIV/AIDS in Florida:

According to recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):

  • Florida ranked 1st among the 50 states in the number of HIV diagnoses;
  • Three Florida cities, made the top 15 cities nationally, when it comes to number of people with HIV. Miami is at the top of the list, with Jacksonville and Orlando at the tenth and 11th spots, respectively; and
  • Miami-Dade and Broward counties ranked top in the nation of new HIV diagnosis.

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About AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 1,000,000 individuals in 42 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare.

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