By Renee Larr
The Trinity Free Clinic, a program providing medical and dental care to uninsured and underinsured residents in Hamilton County, will hold its annual 5K fundraiser Oct. 15. The race begins at 9 a.m. at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.
“About half of our participants come from (the church) and the other have come directly from the community, so we work really hard to make sure this is a community event,” said Autumn Zawadzki, director of marketing at Trinity Free Clinic. “It’s not just a race. It’s a family event with the fitness component, but most importantly people get to have this fellowship with the community.”
There will be face painting, balloon twisting, jugglers and carnival-style games. Food will be donated by Whole Foods, McDonald’s and Mission Coffee. More than 80 prizes will be given away. Trinity Free Clinic wants to raise $50,000 through the event. Cost to participate is $32.50 for adults and $22.50 for youth 18 and under.
“This year our race will fund our pediatric clinic. We’re very fortunate that one of our sponsors, Performance Services, donated $25,000 through the race,” Zawadzki said.
Trinity Free Clinic wants Hamilton County residents to know about its services.
“We consider ourselves the safety net of the county, meaning we take care of anyone that does not have medical or dental care, who is uninsured or underinsured and those that have no other options,” said Dina Ferchmin, executive director at Trinity Free Clinic.
Ferchmin said Pastor Richard Doerr founded the clinic to meet a need he saw in the community.
“(He) saw that within his community he had the very wealthy parishioners, many of whom were doctors, nurses and dentists, and then he had the very low-income parishioners. A lot of them were immigrants who had trouble getting basic care, even immunizations for their children,” Ferchmin said.
For more, visit trinityfreeclinic.org.
