Support for AIDS Walk Growing, Organizers Say

The contestants haven’t queued up at the starting line yet, but Jim Wilson already is way ahead of the pack. He’s raised $8,600 in pledges for the July 28 AIDS Walkathon in Hollywood, a fund-raiser for AIDS Project/Los Angeles that is expected to raise $100,000.

“I wanted to do something personal for the AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) cause, so when this walk idea came up, I decided that would be it,” said Wilson, a waiter at Ed’s Coffee Shop on Robertson Boulevard in West Hollywood. “My first goal was $5,000, but I got that so fast--within a week’s time--that I’m now going for $10,000. It’s been so easy. It’s just sort of snowballed.

Widespread Support

“The response has just been wonderful,” he said. “People are really paying attention to AIDS now, not just gay people. And because of all the support groups, people are getting along better now, and even living longer. You have to have a positive-thinking attitude.”

It is not just individuals like Wilson who have gotten out recently to support AIDS issues. A growing number of community groups, corporations and small businesses are donating money and services.

“It is really exciting to see that people have finally realized AIDS is a disease that needs support, a disease that can affect anyone and a disease that people should not be ashamed of,” said Bill Misenhimer, executive director of AIDS Project/Los Angeles, the organization that put together the AIDS Walkathon.

So many of Wilson’s customers at the restaurant have pledged money that Wilson has almost filled three large posterboards with their signatures. He hasn’t counted lately, but estimates he has about 150 sponsors. The signed posterboards and another board that shows a red, white and blue barometer with a $10,000 goal at the top hang on the walls of the shop.

Walk Through Hollywood

Under the walkathon rules, pledges must be at least $1 for each kilometer a contestant finishes during the 10K walk through the heart of Hollywood. The 6.2-mile walk begins and ends at Paramount Studios.

“I’ve gotten everything from $1 to $25 a kilometer,” Wilson said. “But the average is running $5 per kilometer. And I’ve given out about 50 cards to other people who are going to walk, too.”

Wilson said he knew about 15 people who have died of AIDS, four of them close friends. A friend of his who has AIDS will accompany him on part of the walk.

Wilson also sells T-shirts and sweatshirts to raise funds for the USA for Africa cause. He has printed a special T-shirt to wear on the day of the walk. It reads: Jim Wilson Cares.

“I’m not going to walk,” said Nik LaCarra, a waiter at Trumps who has pledged $5 a kilometer for Wilson, “but I am going out to lend moral support to Jim and the other walkers and have sodas and stuff for them.” LaCarra usually has breakfast at Ed’s several mornings each week, including Fridays with other members of a Trumps waiters’ breakfast club.

Dennis Wiand, a free-lance photographer from Michigan who is on assignment in Los Angeles, recently pledged $50 to Wilson, who also has received pledges from people vacationing here from New York and Paris.

“It’s amazing what he’s doing,” Wiand said of Wilson. “I think he’ll exceed his goal with no trouble.”

More Support Sought

Misenhimer, who gave up his job at Xerox to run APLA, said he hopes the walk will attract more support.

“Although some people are coming out in support for AIDS causes, this is still far from a consensus of concern,” he said. “We still get ‘nos’ when we ask people to help, but not as many as we got 1 1/2 years ago.”

APLA runs a host of services for people with AIDS, including housing assistance, food, transportation, dental care, professional day care, a “buddy” program, medical referrals and professional psychological counseling. It also has an AIDS hot-line service and extensive community educational programs.

“Corporations to this date have not been terribly involved,” said Craig Miller, who, with his business partner Richard Zeichik, is producing the walk. “But we’re really pleased with the response and the people who are supporting the walk . . . corporations, and a good number of physicians who have taken it upon themselves to help.”

The event’s sponsors are underwriting the costs to produce the walk, Miller said, “so 100% of the money raised will go to APLA.”

Corporations Helping, Too

Both individuals and corporations are among the sponsors for the walk. They include: Gene La Pietra, Dr. Armand Hammer, Dr. Stephen Gabin, Colin Higgins, Leonard Peterson, Paramount, The Times, Carousel Catering, Midway Hospital, Westside Hospital, Century City Hospital, the Frontrunners Club, Frontiers magazine, Edge and Update newspapers.

“Dr. Gabin was the very first sponsor,” Miller said. “He gave us the first contribution, and he’s primarily responsible for so much involvement from the medical community.

“We feel very strongly about participating,” said Eunice Chesler, Paramount’s executive director of studio and community relations. “AIDS is a very important matter, important to our society today.

“It’s time for everyone to look at AIDS as a disease that can affect everybody. There isn’t anybody, straight or gay, I’ve called (about the walk) who has turned me down.”

David DePinto, director of public affairs at Coca Cola, which is donating all the beverages for the walk, echoed Chesler’s sentiments.

‘Impact a Lot of People’

“We felt that it is going to be a strong event and we should be involved,” said DePinto. “This disease concerns more than the gay community. It impacts a lot of people. One of the things that encouraged me to support it is the increasing level of awareness and understanding about it and the empathy to people with AIDS.”

Listed as walk co-chairs are: the Bank of Los Angeles, Irving Bonios, the cast of “Nightsweat,” Dr. Martin Finn, F. Peter Freed, the Gay Men’s Chorus, Dr. Stewart H. Gleischman, Dr. Martin Gordon, John (Bill) Green and Chris Spry, Dr. Arthur M. Kahn, Barry Krost, Fred Paul and Eric Shore, Mort Salowitz, Mark Schaye, Dr. Geoffrey Tucker, Los Angeles Councilmen Joel Wachs, Mike Woo and Zev Yaroslavsky.

The organizers are planning a cocktail party Aug. 24 for walk participants who raise $100 or more. Singer Della Reese will be entertaining at the event; Ted Danson, Beatrice Arthur and Beth Howland will be among the celebrity guests.

“We wanted to do something as a thank you,” Miller said. “And we didn’t wish to be too commercial, like giving them a $10 watch or a $15 teddy bear.”

Celebrities who will be at Paramount for the walk include Ann-Margret, Howland, George Takei, Eileen Brennan, Doris Roberts and the walk’s honorary chairman, Mayor Tom Bradley.

Volunteers for the walk already have signed up more than 1,000 walkers, and expect to be close to the 2,000 mark by 9 a.m., July 28. The event starts at 10 a.m.

Miller estimated that with more walkers signing up, he will need hundreds of volunteers on the day of the event. About 30 volunteers work in the evenings at the APLA offices on Santa Monica Boulevard, taking phone calls from persons interested in walking or assisting with the project.

APLA officials said they hope to bring in $100,000 or more from the proceeds of the walk.

“We’re looking at a $1.5-million budget this fiscal year,” Misenhimer said. “We spend about $90,000 a month, and you add food to that and its over $100,000. Food is running about $13,000 every month. We’re almost running out of food money right now, and probably we’ll end up having to go to somebody for help. Although the future for money doesn’t look bad at all in the short term, there are no guarantees. We had 55 new cases last month. And we’ve had nine heterosexual cases in six months, five of those in April. We only had five for 2 1/2 (previous) years.”