10th Annual LUNG FORCE Run/Walk Brings More Than 350 Locals Together, Raises More Than $82,000 To End Lung Disease

This morning, more than 350 people laced up their gym shoes to stomp out lung disease at the American Lung Association in Florida’s Jacksonville LUNG FORCE Run/Walk. This year was the 10th anniversary of the festive fundraiser, presented by Jazz Pharmaceuticals. Participants raised more than $82,000 this year to fund the Lung Association’s efforts to end lung cancer and lung disease. This brings the total among of funds raised at the Jacksonville LUNG FORCE Run/Walk to more than $715,000 over the course of ten years.

Participants from across the greater Jacksonville area and beyond ran, skipped and strolled a 5K route along the St. Johns River at Haskell.

“For the past ten years, the Jacksonville community has rallied at our LUNG FORCE Run/Walk to support lung health – this was a wonderful morning filled with moments of joy and hope,” said Dr. Aakash Modi, member of the Lung Association’s North Florida Leadership Board and interventional pulmonologist at Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center. “Thank you to our participants, volunteers, sponsors and LUNG FORCE Heroes who came together today to raise $82,000 to make a difference in the lives of people facing lung disease and lung cancer. Because when you can’t breathe, nothing else matters.”

More than 200,500 people in the Jacksonville area suffer from lung disease, including lung cancer, COPD and asthma. Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. In Florida, it is estimated that more than 19,300 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, and nearly 10,200 people will die from the disease.

However, there is hope. More people in the U.S. than ever are surviving lung cancer. The survival rate has increased by nearly 40 percent in the last decade. Funding research, encouraging lung cancer screening and reducing stigma around the disease is the key to unlocking a future free of lung cancer.

Money raised from the LUNG FORCE Run/Walk supports the work of the American Lung Association to defeat lung cancer, improve the air we breathe, reduce the burden of lung disease on individuals and their families and eliminate tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases.

Thank you to our local LUNG FORCE Run/Walk sponsors, including Presenting Sponsor Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Raymond James, Florida Blue Foundation, Mayo Clinic, Baptist MD Anderson Cancer Center, CSI Companies, Wellcare, Alive Credit Union, VyStar Credit Union, Floor & Decor and Province Realty Group. Thank you to our national corporate team partner, Kindred Hospitals.

For more information about the event and to donate, visit LUNGFORCE.org/Jacksonville.