The Global News article written by Beatrice Britneff explains how we, in the Canadian AIDS Society, are struggling to find a big corporation to back the multi-city AIDS Walk, after one of the country’s biggest banks terminated its sponsorship. Indeed, Scotiabank served as the primary sponsor of the 30-year-old event for the past decade, bankrolling the fundraising walk to the tune of about $300,000 each year.
Last year, the AIDS walk took place in 29 different locations in Canada. In addition to Ottawa-Gatineau, other Ontario communities that hosted their own walks included Guelph, Toronto, Durham Region, Kingston, Simcoe Muskoka, and Peel Region.
Any funds raised at a local walk benefit HIV/AIDS organizations in that community. All the communities that participated collectively raised $1.5 million last year, and about $44 million in total over the past 30 years.
In a statement provided to Global News, a spokesperson for Scotiabank’s sponsorship and philanthropy initiatives, senior communications manager Erin Truax said “We are proud of our nine-year relationship as sponsor of the AIDS Walk and wish the Canadian Aids Society and their partner agencies continued success moving forward.”
With less than five months to go now and no new primary sponsor, Gary Lacasse said his group just doesn’t have the “capacity” to put together an event in Ottawa this year — even though they just got it up and running again in 2017 after a two-year hiatus.
To know more about the end of the sponsorship, read this article in English: https://globalnews.ca/news/4177621/ottawa-aids-walk-scotiabank-terminates-sponsorship/