One of Southwest Florida’s most dynamic couples, Founders of the South Florida Mud Run, Dustin Edwards and Stefanie-Ink Edwards, are pleased to announce their pledge of $100,000 to be raised over the next five years to support the new Golisano Children’s Hospital. More than 1,500 runners, ages 4 to 84, participated in the Inaugural South Florida Mud run held at the Redneck Yacht Club in Punta Gorda on January 12, 2013.
The couple came up with the idea for the South Florida Mud Run and organized the entire event from their dining room table with friends. They had hoped to sign up 500 participants for the first annual mud run, and were pleasantly surprised when three times that number registered.
“It’s hard for me to put into words the amazing experience we’ve had, from envisioning the mud run to then watching it become a reality,” states Stefanie Ink-Edwards. “It has definitely been a labor of love and well worth the blood, sweat and tears that went into creating such an event,” she adds.
The couple decided to organize the South Florida Mud Run as a unique fundraising event to raise money for local charities and to promote active family lifestyles. “Both of our children were admitted to the NICU and PICU due to health complications,” states Dustin Edwards. He adds, “Raising funds for the new hospital is just one way we can give back and show them how much we appreciate the quality care we received for our children.”
The next South Florida Mud Run is scheduled to take place on January 11, 2014. Participation is open to children and adults from ages 4 and up. Participants can sign up as individuals or as teams. For more information or to register, email southfloridamudrun@gmail.com, or visit http://southfloridamudrun.com/.
All gifts to the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida Capital Campaign support construction of a new, state-of-the-art, 128-bed comprehensive pediatric health care facility on the grounds of Health Park Medical Center. The building—which has expansion capabilities to 160 beds—will consolidate all of the medical and ancillary specialty services required to treat critically ill or injured children from our five-county region.
B. Thomas Golisano, a resident of Naples and noted philanthropist, pledged to match dollar-for-dollar all Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida Capital Campaign contributions up to $20 million. “This gift comes as my personal commitment to help Lee Memorial Health System build a hospital where all children in Southwest Florida will receive the best possible care close to home,” Mr. Golisano says. “I hope this gift helps leverage support from others in the region and motivates everyone to contribute in a meaningful way to this important endeavor.”
Dustin Edwards and Stefanie Ink-Edwards founded the South Florida Mud Run in early 2012. The Mud Run was created as a unique fundraising event that not only would raise money for a worthy cause, but also promote an active lifestyle in a family friendly way. This event will contribute 100 percent of its net proceeds to the Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida to help build a new tower for the hospital.