Bridge the Gap to Health Race presents check to Quincy Catholic Charities’ MedAssist Program

June 25, 2020

For 20 years, Quin­cy Med­ical Group’s (QMG) Bridge the Gap to Health Race has brought peo­ple from near and far togeth­er to sup­port local patients in afford­ing life-sav­ing med­ica­tion. This year, peo­ple gath­ered vir­tu­al­ly, as con­cerns sur­round­ing the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic pre­vent­ed an in-per­son event.

Pro­ceeds from this year’s vir­tu­al event are donat­ed by the QMG Foun­da­tion to the Quin­cy Catholic Char­i­ties’ MedAs­sist Pro­gram. On June 25, the QMG Foun­da­tion pre­sent­ed a check total­ing just over $37,000 to rep­re­sen­ta­tives from Quin­cy Catholic Char­i­ties. In the 20 years since the race began, the event has raised more than $840,000 for MedAs­sist which has been used to access more than 55,000 prescriptions.

Walk­ers and run­ners through­out the area were able to get involved vir­tu­al­ly this year by par­tic­i­pat­ing in the 5K, 10K, or half marathon. Mer­can­tile Bank also held an option for kids with the Paul Arndt Vir­tu­al Kids Fun Run.

Lau­ra Ten­house, Direc­tor of Com­mu­ni­ty Rela­tions with QMG, said in a year when so many are fac­ing hard­ships, mov­ing for­ward with the race vir­tu­al­ly was important.

“Bridge the Gap is a unique race expe­ri­ence that brings health and com­mu­ni­ty togeth­er. Even though we weren’t able to gath­er togeth­er phys­i­cal­ly this year, our com­mu­ni­ty amazed us with their sup­port,” Ten­house said. ​“Par­tic­i­pants ran or walked from wher­ev­er they were to help those who rely on the MedAs­sist pro­gram for their life-sav­ing prescriptions.”

Quin­cy Catholic Char­i­ties Area Direc­tor Jack­ie Bruns said ​“Quin­cy Catholic Char­i­ties is hum­bled to accept the pro­ceeds from the Bridge the Gap to Health Race for the 20th year. What a tes­ta­ment these last 20 years have been to the sup­port and ded­i­ca­tion our com­mu­ni­ty has to take care of one anoth­er and to pro­mote a healthy lifestyle. This fundrais­er is not only a bless­ing to Quin­cy Catholic Char­i­ties, but to each and every client that has received assis­tance in obtain­ing life-sus­tain­ing med­ica­tions for their chron­ic ill­ness. ” Bruns said. ​“We are so grate­ful to Quin­cy Med­ical Group, all the major spon­sors, the race par­tic­i­pants, and the ded­i­cat­ed vol­un­teers for ​‘bridg­ing the gap’ for so many peo­ple in our com­mu­ni­ty. Rain, fog, sleet, and now a pan­dem­ic, haven’t stopped us.”

Pro­ceeds from the event come from a com­bi­na­tion of reg­is­tra­tion fees, dona­tions, and spon­sors. Spon­sors of this year’s race were Dot Foods, Bless­ing Health Sys­tem, WGEM, Adams Coun­ty Med­ical Soci­ety Alliance, Bank of Spring­field, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Her­ald-Whig, SIU Fam­i­ly Med­i­cine Cen­ter, Mer­can­tile Bank, Quin­cy Recy­cle, State Street Bank, Town­square Media (Y101 & Kick FM), and Winter’s Insurance.

The 2021 race is set for May 15, 2021. For more infor­ma­tion about Bridge the Gap to Health Race, vis­it www​.brid​geth​e​gap​to​health​.com.