Miss America Caressa Cameron crowned national honorary chair of AIDS Walk Austin

Sept. 15, 2010 - PRLog -- AUSTIN, Texas—Miss America 2010 Caressa Cameron will serve as national honorary chair of AIDS Walk Austin 2010 and will speak at the walk Oct. 17, AIDS Services of Austin announced.

Cameron travels about 20,000 miles each month as Miss America, speaking to audiences about her personal platform of “Real Talk: AIDS in America.”

“I am thrilled and honored to be speaking at AIDS Walk Austin on October 17,” Cameron said. “‘Real Talk: AIDS in America’ is my personal platform as Miss America 2010, and having lost an uncle to AIDS, this is a cause that is very near and dear to my heart.”

In her home state of Virginia, Cameron organized efforts to persuade public school officials to establish AIDS-targeted sex education and spoke to tens of thousands of students about the issue.

“We are privileged to have Caressa serve as national honorary chair of AIDS Walk Austin and to have her speak to walk participants on October 17. Her work as an ambassador for HIV and AIDS awareness has the potential to save lives through reducing stigma and encouraging HIV testing,” said Paul Scott, executive director of AIDS Services of Austin.

Cameron’s visit to Austin will shed light on the fact that about 6,000 Central Texans are living with HIV or AIDS, and that an estimated one in five people who have the disease are unaware because they haven’t been tested.

The fundraising goal for the 23rd annual AIDS Walk Austin is $140,000.

Last year’s AIDS Walk Austin raised $132,000 to provide HIV prevention education to more than 10,000 people and direct care services to an additional 1,500 Central Texans.

Cameron, who was Miss Virginia, was crowned Miss America on Jan. 30 during the Miss America Pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Cameron, 23, is a student at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she is majoring in broadcast communications. She eventually wants to earn a master’s degree in mass communications and become a TV news anchor.

For more information about the Miss America Organization, visit www.missamerica.org.

About AIDS Walk Austin

Central Texans are lacing up and putting their feet down to stop the spread of HIV and to provide care for our neighbors at AIDS Walk Austin. The walk starts at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, at Austin City Hall. AIDS Walk Austin is a communitywide awareness event and fundraiser for Austin’s AIDS service organizations, and is organized by AIDS Services of Austin.

For more information about AIDS Services of Austin, visit http://www.asaustin.org.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBFTaOGexzc



Media contact
Micah King, AIDS Services of Austin
512-406-6114
micah.king@asaustin.org