GBMC HealthCare To Host 28th Annual Father's Day 5K & 1 Mile Fun Walk On Sunday, June 19

Towson, Md. – GBMC HealthCare, Inc., today announced its successful annual fundraising event, the Father’s Day 5K & 1 Mile Fun Walk, will return for its 28th year on Sunday, June 19, 2016 at the GBMC campus in Towson, Md.

This year’s event will again feature a Wellness Village, open to not only race participants, but the entire community. The Wellness Village will be open from 7 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. in the South Chapman parking lot and will include health-related vendors. Additionally, MIX 106.5 Radio will be on-site with its Friends and Neighbors van playing music and sharing prizes. The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore will also be present with fun animal friends for the kids’ area.

The Father’s Day 5K will also have a special group of participants this year, patients from GBMC’s Comprehensive Obesity Management Program (COMP). COMP patients and their supporters have been participating in workout sessions since January in preparation for the Father’s Day 5K. The COMPto5K initiative is a six-month project, designed to support and encourage COMP patients to incorporate exercise in their weight loss via a 5K training process.

The annual event, presented by the GBMC Volunteer Auxiliary, has raised more than $1.75 million for GBMC’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) over the past 27 years and offers GBMC employees, volunteers and the general public an opportunity to support the more than 400 critically ill and premature babies treated this year. These fragile babies are cared for by hospital staff specializing in newborn care, and require equipment designed just for them. All proceeds from the event will benefit the GBMC NICU to help support specialized equipment, quality facilities and experienced clinical staff.

In 2015, the 5K raised a record $170,000 for the NICU and GBMC HealthCare is hoping to surpass that number this year. With 12 rooms in the NICU, there is always equipment that needs updating, new technologies to incorporate and resources critical for these more fragile babies, who require 24/7 care.

"Though we never wish for babies to need our NICU services, GBMC is honored to be able to provide the care that we would want for our loved ones and to each and every infant at a very difficult time in their lives," said Dr. John Chessare, M.D., President and CEO of GBMC HealthCare. "We need the help and support of our community members, and the hard work of our dedicated staff and volunteers, to continue to provide this care.”

The race will start at 8 a.m. on the GBMC campus at the South Chapman Building. Pre-race registration is available online at $30 until June 16. The price will increase to $35 until June 18 and walk-up registration is available on-site at $40 on race day. Interested participants can also register in-person at any of the Father’s Day 5K packet pick-ups on Fri., June 17 or Sat., June 18 at Charm City Run Timonium.

All participants will receive a free performance T-shirt, and awards will be presented to top finishers post-race. Corporate sponsorships are available and participants will have the opportunity to fundraise as an individual or as a team. Prizes are available for top fundraisers, along with the top father/son, the top father/daughter teams, the first male/ female GBMC employee and the first male/female GBMC NICU employee.

To register, start a team, join a team or to pledge, visit www.GBMC.org/5K. For more information about the race, sponsorships or volunteering for this event, please contact GBMC Philanthropy at 443-849-2773.

Event sponsors include: Brick Bodies; Travelstead Transportation Group and Monument Sotheby’s International Realty, The Lowell and Harriet Glazer Foundation, Jerry's Toyota, Pollard's Towing, 1919 Investments Counsel, PNC Bank, Eastern Savings Bank.

About GBMC Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

Throughout GBMC HealthCare System's 50 years of service, we have been known as "The Baby Hospital," which is why it is no surprise the GBMC HealthCare NICU provides the best medical care for those babies born too small, too sick or too soon. GBMC HealthCare’s NICU is one of the largest in the area, caring for more than 400 babies annually, and as a Level III-B NICU, GBMC HealthCare is able to provide complex medical and surgical care to infants as small as 23 weeks gestation and birth weights that might be below 500 grams (17.6 ounces). GBMC HealthCare is committed to clinical excellence, family-centered care and teamwork to provide the best possible outcome for every baby and a supportive environment for every family.

About GBMC HealthCare Inc.

GBMC HealthCare includes Greater Baltimore Medical Center, a 245-inpatient bed acute care not-for-profit hospital which opened in 1965; Greater Baltimore Medical Associates, a group of more than 40 multi-specialty physician practices on the hospital’s Towson campus and in off-campus locations across the region; Greater Baltimore Health Alliance, a network of employed and community-based clinician partners working collaboratively to provide better health and better care at a lower cost, Gilchrist Hospice Care, Maryland’s largest hospice organization offering in-home care, a 34-bed inpatient center on the GBMC Towson campus and a 10-bed inpatient center in Howard County; Gilchrist Center Baltimore - Joseph Richey House and the GBMC Philanthropy, which raises funds to support the organization’s mission. For more information, visit www.gbmc.org.

About GBMC Foundation

The mission of the Philanthropy Committee is to generate charitable funds in support of GBMC HealthCare. The Philanthropy Committee members along with the GBMC HealthCare and Gilchrist Hospice Care Board of Directors, have a responsibility in carrying out this mission – with the support of philanthropy staff – through annual appeals, fundraising events, major and planned gifts and capital campaigns. Together, we will seek gifts from grateful patients, families and friends of the GBMC HealthCare System, as well as corporate, foundation and government grants.

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