Philly AIDS Walk was launched in 1987 to raise money and public awareness during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic — but the event became much more than a walk-a-thon. Its longstanding success is a testament to what happens when people gather in an intentional community to advocate for and take care of one another.

“The walk started at the time when people in our community — we needed a megaphone,” said Mary Evelyn Torres, executive director of Action Wellness, an HIV/AIDS focused organization that inherited AIDS Walk and GayBINGO when Philly AIDS Fund was retired in 2024. “It was a megaphone to let people know about the crisis that was happening at that time and bring attention to the crisis and also raise important funding for persons living with HIV.”

After nearly 40 years, the even

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