Memorial's 8th annual 5K run/walk to benefit kidney, pancreas transplant patients

[August 09, 2012]  SPRINGFIELD -- Memorial Medical Center's eighth annual 5K Transplant Run/Walk to benefit kidney and pancreas transplant patients will be on Sept. 8, beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Washington Park in Springfield. Participants will meet at the picnic shelter area near the tennis courts and playground.

The Alan G. Birtch, MD, Center for Transplant Services at Memorial is the event's host. Proceeds benefit Memorial's transplant patient assistance fund, which provides patients in financial need with medication and other medical needs that may arise during or after a transplant.

Registration for the 5K event begins at 7 a.m. and there will be a brief program at 8 a.m. Bill Coon, a heart transplant and kidney transplant recipient, will be the featured speaker. The Fireside Relics will perform during the event.

Life Goes On, which promotes organ donations, will be on hand to encourage people to sign up as organ donors.

Registrations are now open online at MemorialTransplantServices.com. Participants can also go online to print out a registration form and mail it in.

Participants can register up to the day of the event, but online registration will close on Sept. 5. It is recommended that registrations be turned in by Aug. 20 in order to be guaranteed a T-shirt.

The registration fee is $20 for adults and $10 for 12-year-olds and younger. For participants registering on the day of the event, the price will increase by an additional $5.

"We've been so grateful for the community's ongoing support as we raise funds during our 5K to improve the health of the people and communities we serve through our transplant program," said Sara Danner, transplant financial coordinator and chair of this year's event. "Their support helps us to have a patient assistance fund to help people with emergent needs."

The transplant team follows and manages the care of approximately 260 post-transplant patients. The transplant program is a cooperative initiative involving Memorial Medical Center, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Springfield Clinic. Since its founding in 1972, the program has completed more than 815 kidney and pancreas transplants.

An estimated 385 people participated in last year's event, including transplant recipients, living donors and families of deceased donors. The seven previous runs raised a combined total of nearly $100,000.

For more information, call Memorial's Transplant Services at 217-788-3441.

[Text from file received from Memorial Medical Center]