The Downtown Phoenix Zombie Walk is back from the dead thanks to a new partnership with the Arizona Hemophilia Association, a nonprofit organization which provides financial assistance, summer camps and coping skills for people and families with hemophilia.
With the new partnership, the Zombie Walk will be “able to really get back to what the event was supposed to be in the first place, which was the walk itself,” said R.J. Price, vice president of marketing for Downtown Phoenix Inc., the organization that started the walk.
Price emphasized no one wanted to get rid of the Zombie Walk in the first place and they are incredibly thankful for AHA’s part in bringing it back to life.
“Reimagining the event as we have these past couple weeks with AHA, that’s what really allowed us to take a step back and really concentrate on things people like the most,” said Price. This includes the costume contest and exploring downtown Phoenix.
The annual Zombie Walk was canceled in May due to expense, lack of staff and a quickly expanding event. The event increased from a 200 person event to a 20,000 person event in just six years. Downtown Phoenix didn’t want to charge an admission price to cover increasing size and cost, so instead they discontinued the event with the hope that a partnership could be formed to continue the event.
Both groups hope it will also bring awareness to the disorder of hemophilia and the AHA in general.
“Our hope is to have better awareness of our cause and to be able to have the financial means to better serve it,” said Cindy Komar, chief executive officer of AHA.
The partnership has brought some change to the Zombie Walk, which is scheduled to be held Oct. 29. The changes include a new route that goes through the Warehouse District instead of Heritage and Science Park. The new route explores the classic, older streets of downtown.
After the walk, a “blood” crawl of 10 to 12 bars within walking distance of the event will take place. The bars have yet to be announced, but will include discounted drinks and snacks with the price of the charitable wristbands.
The AHA started discussing a potential partnership around late July to early August, finally announcing the Zombie Walk’s return Aug. 24. There were other options for possible partnerships to help get the Zombie Walk back in motion, but many of the organizations were requesting money, something Downtown Phoenix Inc. could not provide.
“We thought it was a great opportunity to leverage an existing event that’s been so successful and to create greater awareness about what we do,” said Komar. “Ultimately it’s also to raise funds for our programs and services and also to create awareness about the health center.”
The hemophilia nonprofit includes a health center downtown called My Neighborhood Primary Care which provides primary care for anyone and specializes in bleeding disorder care. Any money made by the center goes back to help the patients suffering from blood disorders or to help fund the research to find a cure and treatments. Hemophilia is a rare disorder in which a firm blood clot cannot be formed.
“In general I think there is a lack of awareness regarding hemophilia both nationally and internationally. Most likely because it is a rare disease,” said Lia Steinberg, a media relations specialist for Phoenix Children’s Hospital, in an email.
Besides the Zombie Walk, people can help support the AHA by volunteering or offering talents, such as local bands or companies helping with entertainment or supplies at events, donating or sponsoring.
“At the end of the day, the real story here isn’t going to be that the Zombie Walk was preserved or that there were 10,000 zombies walking around downtown Phoenix, all of which is great, but the real story is that we’re going to lift the profile and raise awareness for this really important organization that does their work right here in downtown,” said Price.
Contact the reporter at bfroney@asu.edu.
