Village Walk for Cancer Research to Benefit UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – People of all ages are invited to register for the Seventh Annual Village Walk for Cancer Research set for Sept. 13 in Hot Springs Village. One hundred percent of proceeds from the walk will benefit the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and will be matched dollar for dollar by the state of Arkansas.


 


Cost to participate is $25 by Aug. 1 and $30 after that date. For a registration form, call Claire MacNeill, event chairperson, at (501) 922-3642, or write to Village Walk for Cancer Research, P.O. Box 8412, Hot Springs Village, AR 71910.


 


The walk will begin at 7:30 a.m. at Cortez Pavilion, and participants may walk any distance they choose along a five-mile course. Tickets may be purchased for a drawing of more than 70 prizes, and lunch will be provided.


 


In April 2007, Gov. Mike Beebe signed a bill allowing the state to provide up to $46 million in matching funds to build a 12-story expansion to the Cancer Institute, Arkansas’ only academic cancer research and treatment facility. Gifts to the building or endowment given between January 1, 2007, and June 30, 2009, qualify for the matching funds. The expansion is under construction and is expected to open in 2010.


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,538 students and 733 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,600 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. Visit www.uams.edu.