CINCINNATI — More than 500 people ran up and down the stairs at Great American Ball Park on Sunday for the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb event.
The annual event raises money to help people with lung disease.
“We put all of our money, 90 cents of every dollar we raise goes toward our efforts and that includes advocacy, education and research,” said James Martinez, the director of communications for the American Lung Association.
He said their goal is to raise $160,000 dollars this year. Martinez said Cincinnati has raised just under $120,000.
“Research saves lives. So millions of dollars every year because of events like this and the money that we raise from the community goes to research, finding new treatments, finding new cures to save lives,” Martinez said.
HIT THE STAIRS 🏃🏽♀️
— Jessica Hart WCPO (@JessicaHartTV) April 23, 2023
Hundreds of people will be climbing toward a cure for lung disease at Great American Ball Park. The fundraising event ends at noon today, but continues online for the next 30 days. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/2CAB3gytDJ
Ruth Hill has been a volunteer with the Cincinnati chapter of the American Lung Association for over decade. She volunteers for her sister.
“I have a sister who has very severe asthma and it truly limits her life. She is always concerned. She has to have her nebulizer near. She’s concerned about power outages because what if then she can’t breathe. She can breathe some of the time, but it’s always labored and sometimes even more than labored. It’s just very limiting to her life," Hill said.
Hill added that this event helps people with varying lung issues.
“It means more people will be able to be helped with their various lung issues. For some people it’s not asthma it might be something else like COPD or any number of lung diseases," she said
Martinez said the money raised today will benefit people living in Ohio.
“One and a half million Ohioans suffer from lung disease and probably about 11,000 of them have lung cancer. If you break it down even more, 6,000 of them alone pass away from the disease, so the money we raise here is super important,” he said.
The American Lung Association reports lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. The organization further stated more than 357 people die from the disease every day.
Climbers will each complete around 1,000 steps. Brittany Sinzinger, executive director of the Cincinnati chapter, said firefighters in full gear will walk the upper deck and regular participants will climb in the lower bowl.
“Our first race is called the power hour, so we’re going to have participants running for one whole hour around the lower bowl here at Great American Ball Park," Sinzinger said.
Hill wants to encourage people to get involved even if they don't have a personal connection to the cause.
“I would say you can help someone who can’t breathe as well as you do. If you’re standing here walking, sitting somewhere comfortable right now breathing you are living the life. Just imagine if you couldn’t," Hill said.
The American Lung Association will also accept donations online up to one month after the event at GABP.
