For more information contact: 
Madison Area YMCA 
Marketing & Communications Department
smcevoy@madisonymca.org

CAPTION: Caption L-R: Coming in at the finish line at last year’s Madison Area YMCA “The Mind Matters 5K: Mentally Healthy One Stride at a Time”: Sebastian Nicewicz, the top male finisher overall and Hogan Dwyer, the first-place winner in the 20-29 age category.

 

For Immediate Release  

The Madison Area YMCA’s “The Mind Matters 5K: Mentally Healthy One Stride at a Time” is on Wednesday, May 16 

(Madison, NJ) April 2, 2018 – Calling all runners! Lace up your running shoes for a great cause. On Wednesday, May 16, 2018, the Madison Area YMCA will host "The Mind Matters 5K: Mentally Healthy One Stride at a Time” and 1-mile family fun run/walk on the campus of Giralda Farms in Madison. This is the 22nd year that Pfizer has served as the lead corporate sponsor of the race.  

All proceeds raised will benefit the Madison Area YMCA's programs that heal the whole person emotionally, mentally and physically.  

Register online at www.madisonareaymca.org, visit the Family Center’s Welcome Center to register in person or print the application and mail with a check payable to the Madison Area YMCA to: Madison Area YMCA, 111 Kings Road, Madison, NJ 07940. Register before Sunday, May 6, for the early bird rate ($27 for the 5K and $8 for the family fun run/walk). All children ages 7 and under are free for the fun run/walk. USATF members receive $3 off race registration by Friday, May 11. Packet pick up will be at Whole Foods Market on Tuesday, May 15, from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 

Check-in and race day registration: 5 - 6 p.m.; 5K Start: 6:30 p.m.; 1 Mile Family Fun Run/Walk: 6:35 p.m. (*immediately following 5K Start) 

The Madison Area YMCA's The Mind Matters 5K is an influential fundraising event for the Madison Area YMCA’s Annual Fund. The Annual Fund enables hundreds of children and families to participate in Y membership, innovative programming, wellness initiatives and services including child care, early childhood education and summer camps at the Madison Area YMCA’s Family Center and the F.M. Kirby Children’s Center of the Madison Area YMCA.  

Highlighted programs: 

Community Mental Health Initiative (CMHI)
As mental health is rapidly becoming a leading issue across the nation, the YMCA has taken steps to establish the Community Mental Health Initiative to raise awareness and lower the stigmas associated with mental illness. CMHI also focuses on reducing barriers to mental health care by providing community members with knowledge and skills to increase help-offering behaviors.

Project Community Pride of the Madison Area YMCA
Project Community Pride is a youth counseling program that has joined the Y as one of its community-based programs, is an important extension of youth development services for children, teens and their families throughout the Madison Area YMCA’s service area. The program was made possible through the collaboration of community leaders and the municipalities and school districts of the Chathams, Florham Park and Madison.

Paths to Wellness
The Madison Area YMCA offers enriching community wellness and health enhancing programs including LIVESTRONG® at the YMCA, a cancer survivors’ program; The Diabetes Prevention Program; One Step, a multiple sclerosis program; Delay the DiseaseTM, a Parkinson’s disease wellness program; Enhance®Fitness, an arthritis wellness program; and Healthy Hearts, a post-cardiac rehabilitation program. The Y also has a range of youth sports, youth leadership programs, enrichment classes and adult fitness classes. 

As a cause-driven charitable organization, the Madison Area YMCA is dedicated to nurturing the potential of every child and teen, and improving the community’s health and well-being and giving back by providing support to our neighbors. 

For more information, contact Jennifer Casanova, at 973-822-9622 x2281 or email Jcasanova@madisonymca.org. See you at the starting line! 

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