Seattle AIDS Walk Raises $400,000

Seattle's 16th annual AIDS Walk and Fun Run drew 3,500 participants Sunday, 500 fewer than last year, and raised $400,000, about $250,000 less than in 2001. At its peak, 10,000 people joined in the walk, raising as much as $1 million. Yet while participation has declined, AIDS is no more curable and no less a killer, said honorary event chair Monique Payton, wife of Seattle SuperSonics guard Gary Payton. Actor Ian McKellan, who is filming the "X-Men" sequel in Vancouver, British Columbia, also participated in the march. About 9,000 people in King County are living with HIV/AIDS, and about 400 others are infected annually, said Chuck Kuehn, executive director of the Seattle-based Lifelong AIDS Alliance. "We're 20 years into the epidemic and it's hard to keep people's interest," Kuehn said. "The reality is there are more people living with AIDS in King County and Washington than ever before."

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