HONOREE
DAVID ZINK
KEY VOLUNTEER, AIDS WALK NEW YORK, LOS ANGELES,
AND SAN FRANCISCO
David Zink, an advertising professional by day, is a “key volunteer”
with AIDS Walk New York, the annual GMHC fundraiser that has, in
its 35 years, raised well over $150 million and engaged more than
900,000 participants.
David’s history with AIDS Walk New York goes back to 1989, the
fi rst year he walked and raised money for GMHC. After two years of walking, he proved that all those boxes on the mailin
registration card really do work — he checked the box reading, “Contact me for volunteer opportunities.”
Soon enough, David was volunteering for the September 1990 AIDS Dance-A-Thon. The following spring, he was part
of the team steering the 1991 AIDS Walk.
Asked what motivated him to dive in to work behind the scenes at AIDS Walk, he cited several reasons.
“First, I was brought up with a family ethic of helping out the community,” David said. “Second, I didn’t want my job to
defi ne me, and, third, I had just moved into the city and wanted to work with a group of people with the same values.”
Thirty-two years later, David is considered a “key volunteer” with AIDS Walk New York. His prominent role in the event
came from being a “conehead” — a term undoubtedly borrowed from “Saturday Night Live” (Google it) used to describe
the tall orange conical posts attached with yellow caution tape to delineate the walking lanes. The protected walking
lanes are critical to shielding walkers from oncoming vehicular traffi c.
David now oversees all of the coneheads, which can be a challenging job with sudden changes in the route, not to
mention the fact that the volunteer conehead crew generally changes from year to year.
The changes in his volunteer team are something David takes in stride, explaining, “We normally get a different group
of volunteers each year, and it’s great to see the new faces getting involved.”
MZA Inc. is the organization that produces AIDS Walk New York, and it also stages AIDS Walk Los Angeles and AIDS
Walk San Francisco, which benefi t leading HIV/ AIDS services in those cities. That connection has brought David into
volunteer work in the two West Coast cities, as well.
“In New York City and other cities, another conehead and I have painstakingly reorganized the route maps so that it is
clear to everyone what need to be done,” he explained.
Three decades is a long stretch of volunteering by any measure. What keeps him going?
“What drives me to come back, besides seeing lifelong friends at every walk, is being inspired by the walkers who
show up – literally rain or shine,” David said. “Those walkers are raising money for GMHC, which over the course of
their 38 years has provided support for countless people with AIDS.”
David has worked in advertising since 1987. Since 1997, he has been a senior print production manager in that fi eld.
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