The UCSF campus is taking a new team approach to its annual participation in
AIDS Walk San Francisco, scheduled for Sunday, July 17.
This year, UCSF schools, medical center, research and administrative units will compete as teams against each other in a contest to determine who will get the greatest percentage of people to take the 10-kilometer trek through Golden Gate Park.
Already, campus officials are rallying their teams to bring home the bronze.
"There is really little doubt but that the medical center will be the home for the UCSF AIDS Walk Trophy," said Mark Laret, chief executive officer of UCSF Medical Center. "Who could possibly raise more money than the medical center staff? Let's show the rest of the campus what walking for charity is all about!"
Mary Anne Koda-Kimble, dean of the UCSF School of Pharmacy, is rising to the challenge. "Mark underestimates the will and wherewithal of the School of Pharmacy. We were the first pharmacy school in the West and we are the top-ranked pharmacy school nationwide. We plan on winning first place in this competition and the coveted UCSF AIDS Walk Trophy. I challenge Mark to beat our percent participation. I will be walking!"
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First-ever UCSF Trophy
The team that succeeds will win a truly one-of-a-kind prize - the UCSF AIDS Walk Trophy - made of a bronzed running shoe from a man who knows all about winning prizes: Chancellor Mike Bishop. The Nobel laureate and recent winner of the National Medal of Science agreed to donate his slightly-worn, blue-trimmed New Balance shoe to be bronzed as a prize.
The idea is that the trophy will be awarded for the first time ever on July 19 to the victorious team and will be passed along from year to year as a token of triumph to others in future AIDS walk competitions. The offbeat trophy gives new meaning to the walk to save lives and to those who experience the agony of defeat.
Another prize, yet to be determined, will be awarded to the person who raises the most money.
Each year, walkers raise millions of dollars for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and other HIV/AIDS organizations, which offer an important array of services, including prevention efforts, needle exchange and the
California AIDS Hotline (800/367-AIDS).
Please register to walk with your team or sponsor a walker at UCSF.
For more information about the event, call 415/615-9255 or visit
aidswalk.net/sanfran. Watch for more information about UCSF's participation in future print and online publications.
Shoe photo by Cindy Lima
Source: Lisa Cisneros
