Above: AIDS Walk 2007
FREDONIA, N.Y. — November 21, 2008 — SUNY Fredonia’s Students Teaching Equals Positive Sexuality (S.T.E.P.S.) will again sponsor the second-annual Chautauqua County AIDS Walk: Stepping into AIDS Awareness, on Saturday, Dec. 6, to raise community awareness of the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Douglas and Ann Manly, two Fredonia residents who lost their son, David, to AIDS in 1983, will be this year’s guests of honor.
This year’s event will begin with registration at 11 a.m. in the basement of Fredonia Village Hall, located at 9-11 Church St. The walk will begin at the Village Square gazebo and will be followed by a reception in Dods Hall Gym. Refreshments and entertainment will be provided, including a cappella groups Some Like it Hot and Much More Chill. Musical artists Jessey Drake and Playing for Keeps will perform as well. There will also be a guest of honor and a balloon release ceremony to honor those who have lost their lives to AIDS.
Registration packets are available in the Campus Life office in the Williams Center on the SUNY Fredonia campus. The cost is $20 per person or $15 per person for groups of five or more. All students, staff, faculty and community members are welcome to participate.
Over 100 participants took part in last year’s walk and raised more than $6,000. The group hopes to exceed last year’s success, and all proceeds will go to the Malawi Children’s Village Fund, which assists African Children who have been orphaned due to AIDS.
S.T.E.P.S. was formed in 1992 to educate Fredonia’s students about HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), homophobia, sexual assault, and healthy and unhealthy relationships.
