Hundreds Attend Annual AIDS Walk

Pacific Pride Foundation’s annual Heart and Sole AIDS Walk drew around 700 supporters on Saturday, more than doubling last year’s turnout. Those whose lives have been affected one way or another by HIV/AIDS walked six miles along Cabrillo Boulevard, beginning and ending the journey at Leadbetter Beach. Most of the money raised at the event – which kicked off October’s AIDS Awareness Month – will go toward purchasing testing kits. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than a million people in the country live with HIV, but a fifth are unaware they have been infected. Pacific Pride Foundation gives assistance to the approximately 400 people in Santa Barbara County with HIV/AIDS.