WALKING FOR A REASON: The Santa Barbara Independent’s Brandi Rivera, Cassi Lindberg, Robby Robbins, Bryan O’Quinn, Megan Packard Hillegas, Nicole Wichowski, and Marianne Kuga got together last Saturday to participate in the annual AIDS Walk, a fundraiser put on by the Pacific Pride Foundation. Altogether, the team raised $1,021, including nearly half of that from Packard Hillegas alone, and quite a bit more from a $5 lasagna lunch put on by Robbins and O’Quinn last Friday. The walk was a fun and spirited affair, confirmed Kuga, who recalled one man who walked most of the course in leopard high heels, explaining, “When he came back through the finish line, everyone cheered for him.” But the cause is what brought everyone together. Said Robbins, “This fight is far from over, and it’s days like this that give me hope.”