3,500 Brave Weather in Dallas for AIDS LifeWalk; Nonprofit Director Says Fund-raiser Didn't Come Close to Meeting Goal

Organizers of the 11th annual LifeWalk for AIDS to benefit AIDS Arms Inc. drew an enthusiastic crowd of about 3,500 people to downtown Dallas on Saturday. However, the financial contributions generated by the event fell far short of expectations. "We were hoping to raise $500,000 in cash this year," said Rodney Holcomb, executive director of the 15-year-old Oak Cliff agency, which provides case management services for people with HIV/AIDS. "But we didn't even get to the halfway mark."

In all, the event raised about $220,000. Another $15,000 to $20,000 could arrive later from walkers who stayed home because of the weather. Last year the agency raised $385,000 from the walk. Since 1990, the event has collected more than $4 million, which AIDS Arms has shared with several other AIDS agencies. About 11,000 people in North Texas are living with HIV/AIDS. About 90 percent of those people live in Dallas County.

Holcomb said he had worried for weeks that local AIDS fund-raising efforts would be hurt by the Sept. 11 attacks. Since then, relief efforts to help the victims and their families have prompted a national outpouring of contributions. "What happened to our walk is a strong indication of how adversely impacted local fund-raising will be from now on," he said. "Unfortunately, it's going to have a direct impact on our ability to provide services to people." Although most of its $3.4 million budget comes from federal money, the agency uses local contributions to expand its services to handle a growing caseload. "If we don't get the money from somewhere else, we're going to have to figure out how to cut back an already lean operation," Holcomb said.

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