Tomorrow night, hundreds of runners will invade Spotslee subdivision near the intersection of Brock Road and Courthouse Road in Spotsylvania County.
Their efforts will help thousands of uninsured patients in the Fredericksburg area get the medical treatment they need.
Fredericksburg Christian Health Care will hold its annual FCHC Twilight 5K walk/run, and proceeds will help provide health care for patients who otherwise could not afford it.
Michelle Goeden, the practice administrator at FCHC, estimates that about 40 percent of the patients who come through the center are uninsured. Payouts from insured patients and fundraisers like this one fund the treatment for the uninsured.
"Our goal this year is to see about 4,000 uninsured patients," Goeden said. "It's pretty depressing. The biggest frustration is that it's middle-class people that have worked 15, 20 years, and they've lost their jobs and they don't have insurance. We do what we can to help them, but it's only so much because it's basic medical treatment."
Goeden estimates that about 200 runners and volunteers will participate in the third annual 5K. Some runners and volunteers in years past have been former patients of FCHC, both insured and uninsured.
"They know it's a good cause," Goeden said. "They were there once, and they know how much it meant to them."
Top three finishers in each 10-year age group will receive gift certificates for $100, $50 and $25.
Most of the runners will be there to get into better shape or to support the cause. Goeden is happy for either.
"It's very humbling to get this help," Goeden said. "I had a 40-year-old man who came in with chest pains who hadn't seen a doctor since he was 15. Being uninsured is a huge problem. Sure, you see the panhandlers, but it's a lot deeper than that. There are about 40,000 people in the area who are uninsured, and there are only two other places in the area that will take them."
Registration is $21 today, $24 tomorrow. The race starts at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit fchc.us or call Goeden at 540/785-8500.
Carden Hedelt: 540/374-5440
Email: chedelt@freelancestar.com