Memorial to Hold 12th Annual 5K Run/Walk to Benefit Kidney, Pancreas Transplant Patients

[September 02, 2016]  SPRINGFIELD – Memorial Medical Center’s 12th annual 5K Transplant Run/Walk to benefit kidney and pancreas transplant patients will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at Washington Park in Springfield.

Registration is open online at Memorial TransplantServices.com through Sept. 14; participants can also go online to print out a registration form and mail it in. Registration also is available the day of the event beginning at 8 a.m.

Registration fee is $25 for adults and $15 for 12-year-olds and younger. Participants will meet at the picnic shelter area near the tennis courts and playground. Registration increases by $5 per person on the day of the event.

The Alan G. Birtch, MD, Center for Transplant Services at Memorial is the event’s host. Proceeds benefit Memorial’s transplant fund, which provides assistance to patients, education for patients and staff, and continuing program development.

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

The transplant team follows and manages the care of approximately 300 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 920 kidney and pancreas transplants.

An estimated 360 people participated in last year’s event, including transplant recipients, living donors and families of deceased donors. The 11 previous runs have raised about $147,000.

For more information, call Memorial’s Transplant Services at 217-757-7835.

[Michael Leathers, Memorial Health Systems]