In two days, the Hope Travels Virtual 5K takes place on behalf of a local nonprofit to help families relieve medical debt.

It can be a lonely and frightening road for the catastrophically ill or injured.

Not only do they have to cope with the trauma of their diagnosis, they and their families also face exorbitant out-of-pocket medical expenses and related costs.

The national nonprofit Help Hope Live, of Radnor, offers a solution to families in medical crisis by providing community-based fundraising support and other services to help them afford the care and equipment they need to heal, live, and thrive.

Help Hope Live is lesser known than GoFundMe, but the nonprofit has been the trusted fundraising partner of the medical community for nearly four decades—and it all started here in Delaware County.

Virtual 5K

To raise funds and awareness in support of its mission, Help Hope Live has launched a nationwide event to take place on Sunday, May 16: the Hope Travels Virtual 5K.

As of Thursday, May 13, there were 640 participants in this year’s virtual 5K, with $112,616 raised.

The event is open to individuals or teams and you can choose whether the funds you raise go to support Help Hope Live’s mission as a whole or one of their thousands of clients across the country.

Registration is $25. Participants receive a Hope Travels t-shirt and a fundraising page that can be shared via email or social media to collect donations and recruit friends.

It’s a 5K your way: go the distance (from a distance!) by participating in the event on May 16 from anywhere and at any time as an individual, family, neighborhood, friend group, workplace, or sponsor.

5K sponsorship

Locally, Firstrust Bank, Glenmede, BB&T-Truist, Brandywine Realty Trust, Holman Enterprises, Main Line Health, Tompkins VIST Bank, EG&A law firm, Gallagher, and Levy Wealth Management have signed on as sponsors.

You can find sponsorship information on the Hope Travels Virtual 5K sponsorship page.

About Help, Hope Live

Located in Radnor, Help Hope Live is a nonprofit that has been bringing patients and community funding together for 38 years.

The organization works with patients and their families to identify networks of support within their personal and professional communities.

From there, a campaign page is set up on the Help Hope Live website where people can make tax-deductible donations, offer messages of support, and create fundraisers to share with their community.

All the money raised in that patient’s name goes to Help Hope Live and is then available for them when they need assistance for medical bills or anything that’s related to their treatment and care.

That could mean covering expenses beyond medical bills; buying a wheelchair, modifying a vehicle or home for accessibility, or paying for a lifetime of medications.

The client benefits financially from Help Hope Live’s nonprofit status: campaigns are eligible to receive tax-deductible donations, employer matching gifts, and corporate and foundation support.

Help Hope Live also helps clients by finding ways to lower medical costs. It finds savings through its relationships with hospitals, social workers, medical suppliers, and other vendors. 

During the pandemic, Help Hope Live teamed up with vendor Freedom Concepts and the Flyers Alumni Association to provide custom adaptive bikes to two kids with special mobility needs so they could remain active during Covid despite limited access to rehabilitation therapy. Accessible bikes increase mobility for people who are living with physical disabilities, but they are typically out of reach for families due to their out-of-pocket cost: $6,000!

The partnership has now turned into a monthly program called Every Child Deserves a Bike.

A little history

Help Hope Live was founded in 1983 by a Villanova transplant surgeon and his wife, a nurse.  At the time, heart transplants were considered experimental surgery, not covered by insurance companies. In 2000, the organization took on it first campaigns for a local college student who sustained a paralyzing spinal cord injury.

Today, Help Hope Live supports campaigns for all types of catastrophic medical conditions, including support for COVID-19 survivors.

It has amassed over $150 million, helping thousands of families nationwide.

In April, Help Hope Live earned its 17 straight 4-star rating (the highest possible) from Charity Navigator, indicating they “outperform most charities in America.”

To learn more about Help Hope Live and it’s upcoming Hope Travels 5K, visit www.helphopelive.org.