Over a decade ago I lost the love of my life, Jim Hodge, to Pulmonary Fibrosis. This is a condition which damages the lungs and impairs the transfer of oxygen to other organs. Jim’s time with us, his family, was extended thanks to a generous person who made the decision to become an organ donor. Jim was devoted to this community where he worked for the Menominee Public School system and served in leadership roles for many local organizations including President of the Bay Area Medical Center Board. As my family and I were grieving, we wanted to find a way to not only remember Jim but to help continue his legacy and impact on the community for years to come. We came up with the idea to organize a walk/run and as we witnessed first-hand the hundreds of people we were helping, in a variety of ways, we couldn’t help but continue the effort year after year.
Over the last 11 years, we’ve raised over $160,000 for supporting local cardio-pulmonary rehabilitation patients and raise awareness of organ donation. Last year alone we raised nearly $13,000! This support has enhanced patient care and experience in countless ways from helping enable our new hospital to providing new equipment like O2 monitors that synchronize with a telemetry system allowing for instantaneous feedback and documentation of systems.
The Aurora Medical Center – Bay Area’s Cardio-Pulmonary Rehab Department serves those in recovery from heart attack, heart failure, and transplant, among others. It also serves those with chronic diseases like COPD and pulmonary fibrosis. Through education, diet, exercise, and psychological health programs (such a smoking cessation), the Department promotes lifestyle improvement, disease maintenance, and management.
This year, 2024, is the 12th Annual Jim Hodge Memorial Run and all of the donations will again be going to support the important work of the Aurora Medical Center – Bay Area’s Cardio-Pulmonary Rehab department.
The run will be held Saturday, August 3, 2024 at Veteran's Memorial Park in Menominee, MI. Provident Health Foundation is offering donors of $250 and above various thank you gifts when you donate. To view the benefits for donating or to sign-up to participate, visit the race’s official website: https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/Menominee/JimHodgeMemorialRun. Whether you are young, young at heart, runner or walker, we hope to see you there!
We hope you’ll join us in continuing to honor the memory of Jim and making such a meaningful impact on our community. Every dollar makes a difference and I hope you will consider joining us in our mission to help us all live well by breathing deep.
Sincerely,
Greta Hodge