The East Alabama Medical Center Foundation is holding its four-part Celebrate Life event Friday and Saturday.
The two-day event will consist of a radio share-a-thon, wellness clinic, 5K run and a car giveaway.
It's been about five years since the EAMC has had a large community event to raise funds and awareness.
"The main goal this time was awareness," said Sissy Barham, special event coordinator. "We're getting back out there with doing an event and getting our name back out there."
Julia Pipes, foundation director, said Celebrate Life with EAMC has been 18 months in the making and has taken the coordinated efforts of board members and community volunteers.
"We just wanted it to be a fun event with something for everybody," Pipes said. "We're optimistic that it will be an amazing weekend."
Pipes said because this is the first year holding the event, they will be happy with any amount of money they are able to raise.
"In the year 2000, the amount of charity care that we gave was $10 million," Pipes said. "Last year, it was $42 million."
Because EAMC is a public, nonprofit institution, it offers medical care to anyone, regardless of a person's ability to pay. Pipes attributed this upswing in charity to economic issues.
"Most of that is for people who are working, but can't afford health insurance, and when they do get sick and need to go to the hospital they can't afford to pay for their hospital care," Pipes said.
Share-A-Thon
This event begins Friday morning with the "Celebrate Commitment" radiothon through Kicker FM 97.7. The radio station will broadcast live from EAMC Health Resource Center, playing recorded testimonials as well as conducting live interviews with patients and local celebrities.
"They're pleading to the community, 'EAMC is a great place, I had a great experience (and) here's why you need to donate,'" Barham said.
The radiothon will last from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
To encourage donations, the Opelika-Auburn News is offering a free one-month print subscription or free three-month online subscription to those who donate $25 or more.
Wellness Clinic
Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., EAMC will offer a free wellness clinic at the Health Resource Center across from the hospital in an effort to "Celebrate Health."
The Auburn Harrison School of Pharmacy, School of Nursing and College of Sciences and Mathematics are sponsoring the clinic, and nursing and pharmacy students are volunteering.
"It's a good way to promote health in the Opelika-Auburn area," said Aaron Nette, junior in nursing who is volunteering as part of clinicals.
Nette said he thinks the clinic being a class requirement is a good idea.
"It's kind of cool because you get to particpate in more patient education in the community setting than you can in the hospital," he said.
The clinic will offer testing for conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes and cardiovascular issues. It will also provide information about skin cancer, healthy eating, AIDS and other topics.
Pipes said the clinic will target people 50 and older.
5K Run/Walk
The "Celebrate Fitness" portion of the weekend will bring walkers and runners together for a 5K through downtown Opelika. The race will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, and registration will be set up in the courthouse square beginning at 7 a.m. Entry is $25, and the event will also feature entertainment by Route 66. People may participate as individuals or teams, Pipes said.
Late registration will be available during the wellness clinic Friday, where entrants may pick up their race packets.
Awards of $100 will be given to first place overall male and female winners.
Car Giveaway
Saturday will close with a "Celebrate Community" aspect featuring food from local caterers, entertainment by the Tip Tops from Mobile and the opportunity to win a new Chevy Cruze.
"That will be the culmination of everything that's gone on for so many months," said Kathy Barrett, event co-chair. "That's sort of the celebration part of it."
Tickets are $100, and space is limited.
With each ticket comes the chance to win the car. Although it's not necessary to be present to win, there will be 100 additional tickets available for $25 each, providing additional chances to win.
Dress is casual.
Barrett said the important thing is raising awareness of the foundation.
"They can use any amount of money and do great things with it," Barrett said. "It's not about how much we raise, but it's about what they can turn that into. They do so many services."
Money raised from the event will go to support the Cancer Center of East Alabama, the EAMC Diabetes and Nutrition Center, Cardiology Department, Prenatal Clinic and Mother/Baby Care and the Department of Psychiatric Medicine.
"It's just a challenge every day for us to maintain that quality of care," Pipes said. "The hospital has to make very strategic decisions on how they spend their money."
Thirteen members of the community make up the volunteers and board members organizing these events.
For more information visit celebratelife.eamc.org.
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