runDisney Celebrated Charity Spotlight | About Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals
Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals is the celebrated charity of the 2021 Virtual Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend.
Since 1986, the Walt Disney Company has supported the mission of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. However, it wasn’t until 2014 when CMN Hospitals became involved with the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend. CMN Hospitals is honored to continue our role as the celebrated charity of the 2021 virtual race weekend.
CMN Hospitals raises funds for 170 children’s hospitals that support the health of 10 million kids each year across the U.S. and Canada. Donations go to local hospitals to fund critical life-saving treatments and healthcare services, along with innovative research, vital pediatric medical equipment, child life services that put kids’ and families’ minds at ease during difficult hospital stays and financial assistance for families who could not otherwise afford these health services.
You read about Bella’s story a few weeks ago and how CMN Hospitals made a direct impact in her life through the care provided at her local children’s hospital. In addition to stories like Bella’s, there is inspiration found throughout a group of runners called the Miracle Makers. These individuals earn their race entries as charity runners and since 2014, they’ve raised more than $2.2M. Like many runDisney participants overall, they come from across the country – but are unified in running their miles for a very special reason.
*Pictured: PREVIOUSLY CAPTURED IMAGE – Logan and Lennon run next to their mom Katie in the 2018 runDisney Kids Race.
Katie Heck became involved with the Miracle Makers when her twins, Logan and Lennon, were born 7 weeks early and required immediate and ongoing care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Spending the first few weeks of their life in the hospital was overwhelming, so she began running to work through the emotions, finding peace in the solitude. Once Logan and Lennon were discharged from the hospital, the family invested in a worthy jogging stroller and began logging miles together. Her first Disney Princess Half Marathon was just after their first birthday, and Logan and Lennon have been able to join Katie in the years that followed as Kids Race participants.
* Pictured: PREVIOUSLY CAPTURED IMAGE – Christina Carranza hugs her children at the 2016 runDisney event.
Christina Carranza joined the Miracle Makers in 2016 in honor of her son Jacob who is profoundly deaf and is a bilateral cochlear implant recipient from Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg, FL. She felt the calling to give back and fundraise for this charity so that children may always have access to high-quality care. In 2017, she ran solo. But in the years that followed, she encouraged friends to fundraise with the Miracle Makers and now has a team and says she is “so thankful for all the runners who dedicate their sweat and tears to raise funds for these children and families.”
All participants had the option to donate to CMN Hospitals when they registered for the race weekend. Statistics show that sixty-two children enter a CMN Hospitals for treatment every minute and because of donations like the ones made by Miracle Makers, Disney Princess Half Marathon participants, and the friends and family and supporters of these runners, hospitals will be more equipped to tackle the most urgent needs of their patients. When the health of all children is improved, allowing them the opportunity to reach their full potential, communities are also positively impacted for years to come.
On behalf of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, thank you for changing kids’ health and changing the future. Learn more by watching the CMN Hospitals brand anthem video: