For more than a decade, Acuity Insurance, headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, has sponsored an annual Acuity Health Challenge benefitting Aurora Health Care. Throughout this 11-year partnership, Acuity has donated proceeds from the annual race totaling more than $130,000 to enhance essential, close-to-home care for patients provided by Aurora Health Care.
“At Acuity Insurance, we consider Aurora Medical Center – Sheboygan County to be a world-class health care facility and are blessed to have them,” said Melissa Winter, Acuity President. “We want to support Aurora’s efforts to provide parents of children that need intensive care, living here in Sheboygan, with state-of-the-art care right in their backyard.”
Each year, the Acuity Health Challenge, which offers a 5k race or 2-mile run/walk, has the same goal – to motivate families to get moving while remaining a low-cost event that brings the community together.
“We’re proud to sponsor the Acuity Health Challenge,” said Ben Salzmann, Acuity CEO. “This annual event reflects our commitment to wellness and our support for the well-being of the entire community.”
Through the years, Acuity has supported many areas of Aurora Health Care, including the Vince Lombardi Cancer Clinic, behavioral health and wellness, maternal and pediatric care, medical response services for abuse victims, emergency medicine and more.
This year, the Challenge benefitted the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the Acuity Birthing Center of Aurora Medical Center – Sheboygan County. The race received support from more than 550 participants and collected over $12,000.
“Having a NICU available in Sheboygan helps the community by allowing parents of children in need of intensive care to obtain that care close to their home, rather than having to travel,” Winter says.
A total of 12 Aurora Health Care teammates got in on the fun by running in the race and serving as volunteers. LaSundra Beard, Birthing Center and NICU Patient Care Manager at Aurora Medical Center – Sheboygan County, described her experience as nothing short of amazing.
“This was my first year volunteering at the Challenge,” Beard says. “My team and I were responsible for checking in other volunteers and hosted a NICU registered nurse table in Vendor Village. At our table, we offered supplies such as tubing, blood pressure cuffs, bottles, clothes, and diapers – demonstrating how we care for our tiniest patients. What makes the Acuity and Aurora collaboration so special is the ability to bring the community together. Seeing families and friends gather and participate while getting their hearts pumping in such a meaningful race was not only impressive but humbling, too. I feel honored and blessed to share my time and gifts to such an amazing cause.”
Teaming up since 2012, Acuity and Aurora celebrate their 11-year milestone with a refreshed commitment to helping communities live well.
“Acuity is proud to have supported Aurora Health Care over many years, and we are eager to see what partnerships the future may hold,” says Salzmann.
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