On behalf of Team Whitman-Walker, I am honored to welcome you to my page marking the 40th Walk & 5K to End HIV.

As someone who has celebrated his 40th birthday many, many times, I love a good milestone.

Joking aside, this one matters. It celebrates 40 years of community action and scientific advances that have kept people alive, while honoring the more than 700,000 Americans we have lost to HIV/AIDS.

The Walk helps sustain work that makes a real difference. Today, Whitman-Walker:

• Has more than 2,500 participants in 40+ active research studies;

• Conducts more than 3,000 free HIV tests each year;

• Provides one-third of HIV-positive care and prevention care in DC and fills half of all PrEP prescriptions in the District; and

• Provides free legal services to people living with HIV who need help with benefits, immigration, or discrimination.

Those numbers are impressive, but one story stays with me. In July, I met someone who has participated in an HIV-related study for more than 40 years. He spoke with pride about contributing to science—and about how the study helped detect heart disease and other health issues earlier.

That is what research can mean in someone's life.

Whitman-Walker recently launched another study examining Alzheimer's among HIV-positive and HIV-negative people ages 60 to 80. Given how bleak things looked at the height of the AIDS epidemic 40 years ago, there is something extraordinary about people living long enough with HIV to participate in research that could improve treatment for another disease.

So, in honor of these 40 years, I have pledged to raise $7,040—one dollar for each of the 7,000 steps in a 5K, plus $40 for the anniversary.

I've put in the first $1,000. I hope you'll help me raise the remaining $6,040.

Warmly,

Ted