AIDS Walk Welcomes $1 Million “Survivor: Africa” Winner Ethan Zohn
AIDS Walk Welcomes $1 Million “Survivor: Africa” Winner Ethan Zohn — Zohn Added to Celebrity Line-Up to “Take the Step” on Sunday, Aug. 25
Denver — AIDS Walk Colorado is thrilled to announce the addition of Ethan Zohn, the “Sole Survivor” and $1 million winner of CBS’ “Survivor: Africa,” to its star-studded lineup of Grand Marshals at the 15th Annual AIDS Walk Colorado on Sunday, Aug. 25. Zohn — whose AIDS activism was stirred by his experiences with HIV/AIDS patients while in Africa — joins fellow “Survivor: Africa” contestant Brandon Quinton, former “Survivor: Marquesas” contestant John Carroll, and Scott Lowell and Robert Gant of Showtime”s “Queer as Folk” to headline this year’s AIDS Walk celebrity lineup. (Please visit AIDS Walk’s Grand Marshall lineup for more information!)
“Its not enough to just acknowledge there is a huge HIV/AIDS problem worldwide,” said the 27-year-old Zohn, a professional soccer player from Lexington, MA who became Survivor’s third million-dollar winner last fall. “Go out and do something about it, make a difference — large or small — every bit helps. [The AIDS Walk] is just one way I can do something to make even the smallest dent in this huge problem.”
While competing in Survivor: Africa, Zohn won an immunity challenge where the reward was to visit the village of Wamba in Kenya.
“It shook me up. You read about it, you see it on TV, you hear things…but to see [HIV/AIDS] personally is truly devastating. While I was there, I was playing hackey sac with kids in the parking lot of the hospital. I then thought to myself, ‘Wow…one kid out of every three kids here has HIV.’ At that moment, I made a pact with myself that I would do something about this epidemic.”
Ethan attended Vassar College in New York where he graduated with a B.A. degree in Biology. Following graduation he pursued his passion for soccer and played pro ball as a goalkeeper for the Highlanders Football Club (Zimbabwe), Cape Cod Crusaders (Cape Cod, Massachusetts) and the Hawaii Tsunami (Oahu, HI).
Zohn continues to pursue his passion for soccer in a more philanthropic way. He started his own non-profit organization called Grass Soccer (www.grassrootsoccer.org). The groups’ mission is to travel to Africa and educate professional soccer players about HIV/AIDS. Those players then go into schools and teach children about HIV/AIDS prevention. More than 70 percent of the estimated 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide live in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The 15th Annual AIDS Walk Colorado is on Sunday, August 25, 2002 in Denver’s beautiful Cheesman Park. This year’s Walk urges Coloradoans to “Take the Step,” whether by walking for the first time or by returning and reinvesting their emotional commitment to stop the spread of HIV and AIDS. The 10-k (6.2-mile) AIDS Walk is the largest AIDS fundraiser in the Rocky Mountain region. Proceeds from the event benefit Colorado AIDS Project and 29 other outstanding AIDS service and education providers in Colorado.
Take the Step! Step 1: Register today at www.capwalk.org or by calling 303/861-WALK. Step 2: Get Sponsors. Step 3: Walk on Sunday, August 25!