Race to benefit family planning

By Gina Morton
The Daily Item

April 22, 2008 08:00 am

— LEWISBURG — John Peeler is no stranger to the Annual Race for Women’s Health.
“I’ve run it quite a few years,” he said. “I go back far enough that I have the original year-one T-shirt.”
The 9th Annual Race for Women’s Health benefits Family Planning Plus, a non-profit health care organization. It will be held Saturday at the Lewisburg High School. The 5K race begins at 8:30 a.m. with registration opening at 7 a.m. Carrie’s KidRun is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. for ages 1-5 and 6-8, and a 2-mile walk is set to begin at 8:30 a.m.
Music, door prizes and health care information will be available.
The fee is $20 for pre-registration and $22 to register on the day of the race.
While Peeler, of Lewisburg, has no particular connection to the agency, he said runs because its a very good cause.
“I’m very supportive of them,” he said. “I want to help out by running in the race.”
Lisa Wehr, project coordinator with Family Planning Plus, said the race began because the center was receiving less and less money from the federal government.
“We have stable funding each year but operational costs are rising,” she said, noting birth control, salaries, etc.
Wehr said often the center has between $20,000 to $50,000 of free service for patients that is never reimbursed.
“That’s why we started this as an annual fundraiser,” she said.
Wehr said the center usually has about 100 people involved, both walking and running, and would like to see it get bigger. At the end of the races, awards are given to every age category and to the first man and woman to finish the race.
Aimee Baylor, of Lewisburg, is running the race for the first time this year. She has no real connection to the race or center, other than feeling it’s a good cause.
“I hope the community of Lewisburg will come out and support a local organization that’s trying to promote awareness for themselves,” she said.
Wehr said the agency has been in existance over 25 years and covers Snyder, Union, Northumberland, Montour and Juniata counties. Some of the services offered include: complete gynecological exams, pregnancy testing, birth control methods, emergency contraceptive pills, care for minor GYN problems, patient education/counseling, sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment, HealthyWoman program, community education and the WIC program.
“We are really proud of the Healthy Woman Program,” she said, which is a federal program funded by the Center for Disease Control and run through the state Health Department.
“It offers free screening for women, ages 40-64, for breast and cervical cancer if a woman meets the income standards.” Mammograms, pap tests, pelvic exams and clinical breast exams are available.
If abnormal results occur, Wehr said the woman able to get further testing for free and if she is then diagnosed, she can enroll to Medicaid and is eligible immediately. She is then carried financially throughout the whole treatment.
“We’re really proud of that,” Wehr said. “It’s a nice project that helps a lot of women out.”
For more information on the race or Family Planning Plus, contact Mary Rainey at 523-3600.

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