Hundreds of people gathered at Seattle’s Volunteer Park for the 21st-annual Seattle AIDS walk Saturday, which encompassed a mile-long loop route on Capitol Hill.

The event, which was sponsored by the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, is a fundraiser to support care for those affected by HIV/AIDS, advocate for changes in federal policy and increase public awareness of the epidemic.

This year’s goal was $800,000.

“Over $600,000 was raised, and more money was coming in as of Saturday,” said volunteer and participant Andrew Krueger. He estimated between 2,500 and 3,000 people participated to the walk.

The King County Public Health Web site reports that 6,205 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the county, and 2 percent of all people diagnosed with HIV are between the ages of 13 and 19; 29 percent are 20 to 29.

“I found out about the event when I came to Seattle, in 1989,” Kruger said. “This year I was involved with a team and working with the Lifelong Aids Alliance. I first got involved because I had friends diagnosed with HIV and dying from AIDS.”

One of the coordinator’s goals is to educate.

Krueger said that this year, which was his first participating in the walk after the AIDS Alliance began sponsoring it, he was involved because it was an ongoing issue.

“When I first did the walk years ago, AIDS was seen as an untreatable disease seen in only some communities,” Krueger said. “But people are still dying from AIDS and 30 percent of people diagnosed with AIDS are under 30. The Lifelong Alliance and the walk provide a good entry point for people that want to make a difference in their own backyard in the fight against AIDS.”

Two of the biggest fundraising groups were Team Microsoft and Team ASPEN, a high school group from Bellevue, Krueger said.

According to the Lifelong AIDS Alliance, more than 125 teams pre-registered for the event. University of Washington teams included the UW AIDS Clinical Trials Unit, the Team UW Global Health, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

Ann Collier of the Clinical Trials Unit said they participate in the walk because Lifelong AIDS Alliance’s purpose aligns with their mission.

“LLAA provides services that are complimentary to the type of work we do,” said Collier, professor of medicine.

Krueger said he was impressed by the diversity of community represented in the event.

“From high school students, to long term survivors, to caregivers and those who’ve lost a loved one, this gathering and showing of community was inspiring,” he said.

Krueger said he finds a quote by Nelson Mandela’s wife inspiring: “She said ‘It’s possible to have a generation without HIV/AIDS. We can make it possible.’ I think that’s what we should strive for through our involvement in our own backyard.”

For more information, visit the Lifelong AIDS Alliance Web site at www.LifelongAidsAlliance.org.

[Reach reporter Chris Paredes at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]