Claire Sheeren founded the Run, Walk N Roll in 2019 in response to watching her sister, Elizabeth, struggle with an incurable immune disease.
Sheeren wanted to improve the lives of children suffering from chronic or terminal diseases by funding children’s palliative care.
The event’s success enabled the family to establish Elizabeth’s Courage Fund at Mott, a fund 100% dedicated to supporting children and families facing complex or terminal conditions receiving palliative care.
Since its inception, the event has raised over $500,000 for the palliative care program at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.
Examples of programs funded by Elizabeth’s Courage Fund include:
- Music Therapy designed for complex chronic illness, NICU, and end-of-life situations
- Emotional Support Groups for parents
- Medical Massage Therapy to help alleviate nausea, pain, and anxiety and improve quality of life
- Child Life Specialists helping patients cope with the stress of hospitalizations and serious illness and to provide bereavement support
This year, Elizabeth’s dream is to bring an art therapist onto the palliative care team to help patients and families cope with the tremendous burden of chronic or terminal illness.
The event begins at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday (June 17), at the Grosse Pointe South High School track, with check-in beginning at 7:30 a.m.
The event will be a USATF-certified, chip-timed 5K, but walkers and “Rollers” are also encouraged.
Click here to register or donate.