Memorial Medical Center’s 14th annual 5K Transplant Run/Walk to benefit kidney transplant patients will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, at Hope Pavilion in Southwind Park in Springfield.

Registrations are open online at MemorialTransplantServices.com through Sept. 14; participants can also go online to print out a registration form and mail it in. Registration is available on the day of the event starting at 8 a.m. To be guaranteed to receive a T-shirt, registrations must be turned in by Aug. 24.

The registration fee is $25 for adults and $15 for 12-year-olds and younger. Registration increases by $5 per person on the day of the event.

The Alan G. Birtch, MD, Center for Transplant Services at Memorial is the event’s host. Proceeds benefit Memorial’s transplant funds, which provides assistance to patients, education for patients and staff, and continuing program development.

“This event is a great opportunity for our patients and donor families to come together and share their stories,” said Kim Draper, a member of the transplant program and co-coordinator of this year’s event. “We’re grateful for the community’s support over the years to help us raise funds to assist our patients and their families.”

Life Goes On, which promotes organ donations, will be on hand to encourage people to sign up as organ donors.

The transplant team follows and manages the care of approximately 300 post-transplant patients. The transplant program is a cooperative initiative involving Memorial Medical Center, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Springfield Clinic. Since its founding in 1972, the program has completed more than 960 transplants.

An estimated 330 people participated in last year’s event, including transplant recipients, living donors and families of deceased donors.

For more information, call Memorial’s Transplant Services at 217-588-2417.