CNY's Spring Agenda!

Author Dana S. rises to the occasion of AIDS Walk.

Spring is in full swing and Cheer New York has been busy! We recently cheered on 45,000 walkers at the largest AIDS fundraiser in the world: AIDS Walk NYC. This year the walkers raised $5.7 million for Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), the world's first AIDS organization, and other local AIDS service organizations in the tri-state area. This year was extra special: it marked the walk's 25th anniversary and for the first time, NY's governor was in attendance. (Governor Paterson even stopped by CNY to say hi!!)

Cheer New York is honored to cheer on the walkers every year. May 16 was a beautiful spring day and the celebration was in full swing. An amazingly diverse cross-section of New Yorkers walked by: young and old, gay and straight, men and women, all walking to make AIDS history. We entertained and supported the crowd with our signature stunts, mounts, cheers, and dances. And because of our location along the route, most walkers got to see us not just once, but twice. We hope we made those 6.2 miles a bit easier!

In the upcoming weeks, Cheer New York will be busy. We'll be back in Central Park for the YAI Central Park Challenge on June 5, at Queens Gay Pride on June 6, at Brooklyn Gay Pride on June 12, and at Philadelphia Gay Pride on June 13. And our biggest event of the year, of course, Manhattan Gay Pride on June 27!! Make sure to check us out and say hello!

On a side note, this particular cheerleader spotted Jane Lynch (yes, that Jane Lynch, who plays Sue Sylvester, the Cheerios' diabolically evil yet fabulous coach on Glee) walking on East Houston Street last weekend!! And I was in my cheerleading uniform! I was too star-struck to say anything, and now have to live with the fact that I missed an opportunity to take a picture with Jane Lynch in my Cheer NY finest. Gotta love living in NYC!