Five years ago, Walter Lattimore’s brother died of AIDS. He had lived in a time and place that couldn’t offer the help that he needed. He was Walter’s biggest supporter.

Now, for the third year in a row, Lattimore has put together a variety show featuring music, poetry and drag performers as a part of AIDS Athens’ Night Out For Life. Their hope is to give people living with HIV and AIDS the support that Lattimore’s brother didn’t have.

“We want anybody who has family members or a friend that has HIV/AIDS to know there are people out here that care,” Lattimore said. “[There are people] that are willing to raise money for them, that are willing to help in any way possible.”

Night Out For Life is an event 10 years running that benefits the local AIDS service organization, AIDS Athens. The event enlists local restaurants to donate 10 percent of their sales from one evening to the organization. The donations, $6,000 – $8,000 in years past, are split between services of AIDS Athens, ranging from testing for HIV/AIDS to treatment of clients with the disease.

“Even though Athens is a big university town, it’s still a small town,” said Olivia Long, Executive Director of AIDS Athens. “So there’s always that attitude . of helping your neighbor and helping those that are less fortunate in the community.”

Long has been in Athens three years, and has been impressed by that mentality in Athens business owners. She built the partnership with Lattimore three years ago when he contacted her with a desire to contribute on this particular event.

“Because they do a lot of shows at bars, this was a natural fit to them, getting into a club, or bar, and getting the bar to participate into Night Out For Life,” Long said.

Lattimore, along with performing in drag shows himself on occasion, has for some time been friends with members of the Boybutante AIDS Foundation, another local AIDS support organization known for its benefit events featuring the largest drag shows in Athens.

With Night Out For Life, Lattimore saw the opportunity for Boybutante members and others to continue giving to those suffering from AIDS in Athens.

“I felt that . there’s got to be something else that we could do as far as the drag community, as far as the music scene, that we can actually go out and help raise money with [AIDS Athens and local businesses],” Lattimore said.

The show, as in past years, will feature three elements: live bands, spoken word poetry and a drag show.

“We put together an event that people can come have fun and go out and enjoy themselves,” Lattimore said. As well as the opportunity of dining out with a percentage going to AIDS Athens, “We wanted you to have some sort of entertainment as well.”

The response in the past two years has been positive overall. As it was last year, the show will be held in the building at 227 W. Dougherty St., an address that has had a quickly-evolving history in the past few years.

Before Blur moved in, the building was occupied by Detour. During last year’s event, that building was home to Blur, a now defunct gay-centric club. Blur was replaced by New Earth Music Hall, which according to Lattimore, has been entirely receptive to the show.

“When we bought it, we wanted to keep the community that built this area and this room inside and happy,” said co-owner Adrian Zelski.

New Earth opened its doors on Aug. 15 and is hoping to appeal to all subcultures, according to Zelski, including the gay community that previous bars in that location had been geared toward.

When Lattimore approached New Earth with the idea of holding the event in the same location (even with a different name) again this year, they welcomed him. “I wanted to do another benefit for AIDS Athens down the road,” Zelski said. “So this is a great starting point.”

To Lattimore, this event is just another part of his life of dedication toward helping those with the disease that took his brother.

“He was there when I started drag . even if he couldn’t be at a show I was doing he always made sure he called me and wished me luck that day,” said Lattimore, who plans on becoming a registered nurse and hopes to one day open his own AIDS clinic. “He made sure that he let me know he was behind me 100 percent no matter what I was doing.”

Until he can accomplish his dream, Lattimore is thrilled to host events that let people have fun as well as support a cause he truly believes in.

“There’s a lot of help that can be available, but a lot of people don’t know about it,” Lattimore said. “[This event] is a way of helping them to become aware of the help that’s out there for anyone they know or for themselves.”