Activists walk to fight AIDS abroad, celebrate anniversary

With below freezing temperatures and the season's first snowstorm, Saturday wasn't the best day for a three-mile walk through downtown Elgin.

But a small group of local volunteers braved the conditions to raise awareness of AIDS orphans around the world.

Six thousand Steps for 6,000 Orphans, the estimated number of children who lose their parents to AIDS each day, marked its first year in Elgin with a 45-minute walk Saturday morning that finished minutes before the storm hit.

Volunteers with World Vision, the Christian relief group that organized the walk, said the event was a way to call attention to the plight of AIDS orphans.

"The message is: become aware of the issue and start reflecting on your life as a U.S. citizen to realize there are a lot of people around the globe that don't have what we have," said Ivan Gonzalez, executive director of U.S. programs for World Vision.

This is the third year of World Vision's walk, which began in 2005 at Chicago's Daley Plaza.

World Vision AIDS walks also took place Friday in Chicago and Saturday in Glenview to coincide with World AIDS Day, which falls on Dec. 1.

World Vision volunteers said they hoped the weekend's events would draw attention to the organization's efforts to combat AIDS in Africa through prevention, education and providing caretakers to families ravaged by the disease.

Theresa Vonhoff of North Aurora brought her 10-year-old daughter Ripley to the Elgin walk. As Ripley sat in the back seat of Vonhoff's car, listening to music on her iPod, her mother explained why she came.

"I'm teaching my children about all the things God can do in the world," Vonhoff said. "Being a mom, these could be my children suffering."

Even though only 14 people walked through Elgin this year, Gonzalez said he plans to bring the AIDS walk back to Elgin next year.

He said he hopes awareness of this year's event will draw more locals to the walk the next time around.