Fifth annual Capitol to Coast six-marathon series supports civil legal aid for pediatric patients
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After raising nearly $1.5 million in its first four years, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid’s largest fundraiser, Freed to Run, will be closing in on its $2.25 million goal under the leadership of four newly appointed event co-chairs: Dr. Raoul Sanchez, president of Carithers Pediatric Group; Deno Hicks, managing partner of Converge Public Strategies for Northeast Florida; and attorneys Thomas E. Bishop and John S. Mills of Bishop & Mills.
The four will work to recruit sponsors and relay teams, with Sanchez focusing on the health-care community, Hicks on the business community, and Bishop and Mills on the legal community and related industries.
All proceeds from the Nov. 15-20 Capitol to Coast six-marathon relay series will go toward an endowment for the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership (NFMLP) and will be matched at 125% by Baptist Health up to $1.25 million.
The NFMLP provides civil legal aid to pediatric patients and their families to ensure they have access to safe housing, health care, educational accommodations, and other services critical to the children’s health. Nemours and Baptist Health/Wolfson Children’s Hospital are among the NFMLP partner institutions.
The Freed to Run 5.0 co-chairs explained their reasons for joining the cause:
“It’s an honor to co-chair Freed to Run, which has united Northeast Florida’s leading businesses, law firms and health-care institutions in support of children who are up against multiple challenges. At Converge Public Strategies, we believe it’s important to work together to find solutions to our community’s most vexing problems, and through the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership, JALA is doing just that. They’re helping pediatric patients and their families not only survive, but thrive, and who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?”
– Deno Hicks
“John and I have been so impressed with what Freed to Run and JALA have accomplished together. We’re proud to join our friend Mike Freed in helping to fulfill the $2.25 million goal to endow the medical-legal partnership, and to that end, we invite our fellow Northeast Florida attorneys to join us.”
– Thomas E. Bishop
“I have committed to be a part of this work as it seeks to address critical social determinants of health in our local vulnerable pediatric community. Please join us in this worthy cause.”
-Raoul Sanchez
Freed to Run began in 2017 when Gunster shareholder Mike Freed ran six consecutive marathons from the steps of the Florida Supreme Court to the lawn of the Duval County Courthouse, stopping at courthouses along the route and raising more than $70,000 for JALA.
Each of the last three years he has repeated the journey accompanied on each of the event’s six days by relay teams, several of which are back this year for their fourth year. At the completion of his fifth Freed to Run, Freed will have run 785 miles in the quest to permanently endow the NFMLP.
“Looking back, it’s just incredible the momentum that has built since Mike Freed took the first step in a journey of 157 miles in 2017,” said JALA CEO Jim Kowalski. “Now, 628 miles later, we are embarking on our fifth Freed to Run with the ultimate goal of raising $2.25 million now clearly in sight. And we have a great team of co-chairs to get us there. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Sanchez, Deno Hicks and Tom Bishop, and we ask the community to get behind them and carry Freed to Run over its fundraising finish line.”
For information about sponsoring Freed to Run, registering a team or donating, visit https://www.jaxlegalaid.org/freedtorun/.
About Jacksonville Area Legal Aid
The mission of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc. is to obtain and provide high-quality legal assistance to low-income and other special-need groups and to stimulate and empower groups of poor people to accomplish energetic and affirmative advocacy, all to alleviate the circumstances, incidence and causes of poverty.
About the Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership
The Northeast Florida Medical Legal Partnership is part of a nationwide network of projects in which professionals from the medical and legal communities combine resources to produce outcomes for low-income and vulnerable patients (children and adults) that positively impact their health and ability to thrive. Through the partnership, Jacksonville Area Legal Aid serves about 200 children a year, including patients of Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Nemours Children’s Specialty Care, Jacksonville, UF Health Specialty Pediatric Clinics, and Community PedsCare®, a pediatric program of Community Hospice & Palliative Care.
