NYC AIDS Walk Gets Hillary Duff. We Get Vickie Vargas

New York's AIDS Walk opening ceremony hostess

New York City's biggest AIDS fundraiser of the year, Sunday's AIDS Walk in Central Park, will be led by actress-singer Hillary Duff, who will serve as co-host of the opening ceremony and walk with her "Hillary Duff-Walk with Love" team.

Orange County gets a jump on that a day early, with the OC AIDS Walk at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. So who is our big celebrity catch?

Vickie Vargas!

That's right, the KNBC/Channel 4 News Orange County bureau chief--as she does at countless other local walks, parades and assorted charity functions whenever KOCE's Ed Arnold is out of town--leads the opening ceremony Saturday morning.

OC's AIDS Walk opening ceremony hostess

More than 10,000 participants are expected. The goal is to raise $800,000 at the walk, which the AIDS Services Foundation Orange County founded 23 years ago, to help pay for research and services for those living with HIV and AIDS. Now the county's largest, most comprehensive non-profit AIDS service organization, ASF helps more than 1,500 men, women, children and families living with HIV-AIDS here.

You can register as an individual or team here. It's $25 each, which gets participants a t-shirt and everlasting gratitude. Registration packets can be picked up at the stadium beginning at 7a.m. The Vargas-led opening starts an hour later and the walk pushes off at 9 a.m.

There will also be an on-site festival area with an AIDS Quilt display, HIV testing and a family zone. Food and lots of hot coffee will also be served for those citizens of Earth not used to being up that early on a Saturday, let alone functioning.