HAZLET, NJ - Wawa is sponsoring AIDS activist Victor Mooney as part of his Walking With the Tide fundraiser, a four-day walk to the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem from a Wawa convenience store.

Wawa supplied Mooney with a Wawa gift card that he is using to purchase food and water along his route, a 200-mile walk through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Manhattan and ending with a march across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Funds raised from the event will go towards the purchase of a $5,000 rowboat that Mooney will use in partnership with the XIX International AIDS Conference 2012 as he rows from New York City to Washington, D.C. next month.

Mooney lost one brother to AIDS and another is battling the disease. According to the CDC, about 1.2 million people in the U.S. have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and there are 53,000 new HIV infections diagnosed each year in the U.S. "My mission is to encourage voluntary HIV testing and increase awareness of this preventable disease," Mooney said.

In addition to Wawa, Trojan Brand Condoms, Days Inn, NY Waterway, Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, and Historic Hotel Bethlehem are sponsoring Mooney??s fundraiser.