AIDS Walk Delaware celebrates 30 years

When Peter Chakanos started the AIDS Walk he was financially struggling as he dealt with the news that the disease he'd recently being diagnosed with would kill him in a matter of months.

Thirty years later, Chakanos is still around – like the walk he launched 30 years ago this month.

"It's a feeling of accomplishment," Chakanos said of AIDS Walk Delaware, the state's largest annual HIV/AIDS public awareness and fundraising event.

When the walk started, about 50 people participated in the Wilmington event. Now the walk draws hundreds of participants to two locations. This Saturday, the walk will take place at Wilmington's Dravo Plaza at the riverfront and Grove Park in Rehoboth Beach.

Fundraising from the walk helps support services to more than 3,400 people living with HIV/AIDS in Delaware. These services include case management, housing and food assistance, prevention outreach and education.

Although there's been more education over the years, Delaware's HIV infection rate ranks among the highest in the nation, said John Gardner, executive direct of AIDS Delaware.

"That's actually very frustrating because it's 100 percent preventable," he said.

Delaware ranks among the top 10 for infection rates.

Last year there were 109 new case of HIV in Delaware. As of August this year, Gardner said there have been 73 new cases of HIV reported.

The infections are highest in younger people, he added.

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While the walk has historically been a large fundraiser, Gardner said the walk's bigger value is community engagement.

"And just keeping AIDS and HIV [awareness] out there in the public's consciousness," he said. "Because it has been backburnerred by a lot of people."

As HIV has become more of a chronic condition, Gardner said people are more likely to shrug off protecting against it because they can take medication to deal with it.

"You can be relatively healthy, but I don't know about you, but I would assume not have to take a pill for every day of my life," he said.

Chakanos started the walk as a way to become more involved in helping people in his situation. That's when he learned that there wasn't much money for client services.

"That's why the AIDS Walk was founded and why I push for it every year," he said.

While the disease is no longer a certain death sentence, Chakanos agrees that events like his help people become aware.

"It's very important for outreach," Chakanos said of the event that's helped raise a couple of millions dollars for people in need. "It's very important to keep the awareness and for the money we raise."

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.

The 2016 AIDS Walk Delaware marks its 30th anniversary.

Event registration starts at 9 a.m. Saturday, with the walk beginning at 10 .m. in two locations: 

Wilmington's Dravo Plaza at the riverfront and Rehoboth Beach's Grove Park located at Columbia Avenue and Grove Street. 

For more information visit or to sponsor participants visit: http://aidswalkde.kintera.org/