Fetal Health Foundation Founders, Lonnie and Michelle Somers, Announce New Executive Director, Talitha McGuinness. The Great Candy Run, the Foundation’s Signature Event, Ends on a Sweet Note and Launches New Concept Event in November.

DENVER, Colo. (Feb. 7, 2019) – The Fetal Health Foundation (FHF) recently announced the appointment of long-time board member, Talitha McGuinness, to the position of executive director. Established in 2004, FHF is a nonprofit organization that offers resources and support to those experiencing severe pregnancy complications known collectively as fetal health syndromes. FHF was founded by Lonnie and Michelle Somers, who own and manage HAL Sports, an event management company. Both Somers will continue to serve on FHF’s board, provide strategic leadership and facilitate special projects. McGuinness will oversee daily operations and continue to build connections with fetal treatment centers and specialists.

“I am passionate about the Foundation and helping families who receive a fetal diagnosis,” stated McGuinness who received support from the Foundation more than a decade ago when her twins were diagnosed with Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). “With these changes, the organization can increase that support and provide even more resources to families across the country and around the world.”

Funding for FHF programs has come largely thru individual donations and the Foundation’s signature awareness and fundraising event, The Great Candy Run. Known as “a sweet event for a sweet cause,” The Great Candy Run annually attracts 6,000 participants and several thousand spectators. After six years as Colorado’s largest timed 5K, FHF has decided to end the Run on a sweet note and replace it with a more intimate fundraising run that has a stronger connection to the families it serves. The new concept event will take place the second Sunday of November in Denver’s Washington Park and will be produced by HAL Sports.

The Somers started FHF after their own experience with TTTS. At the time, information and resources about the syndrome were limited. They traveled across the country to find a specialist to perform in-utero surgery on their daughters, who are now healthy 15-year-olds. They established FHF to provide information and connections to families experiencing fetal health syndromes.

“What started as almost a pipedream – to make sure that parents like us had the information they needed so they’d never have to say, ‘If only I had known’ – has grown into an organization that helps many thousands and has an international reach,” said Lonnie.

In a few weeks the 11th Annual “The Great Candy Run” in Denver will be under full sweetness. What started out as a way to raise awareness and much-needed financial support has become one of the must-do events in Colorado. The premise is and has always been about family.

Recently, while waiting for a client at a coffee shop, I watched a mom read a fun story to her young son. His eyes lit up with each twist and turn. How wonderful that she was taking this quality time, creating an everlasting memory. The Great Candy Run is just that — a way for families to come together and create those memories while supporting the Fetal Health Foundation.

The family memories and the candy are all sweet, but the purpose of our event and mission is one of hope. The memories I observed are never made by some 200 families every day who lose their child to a fetal syndrome. Fetal Health raises much-needed funds to provide these families HOPE. My twin daughters were saved by in-utero surgery at just 21 weeks into our pregnancy — without it, they would have never survived, but there was always HOPE.

We all know that many times a sponsor is involved in an event to promote a product or service. There is nothing wrong with this, especially when they support a worthwhile cause. But what does a cause, a sponsor, and The Great Candy Run all have in common? For The Great Candy Run, it is about the cause.

All of our main sponsors are involved because of the cause this event supports — the Fetal Health Foundation, inspired by my daughters and founded by myself, my wife, and other affected families. Every year some 800,000 pregnancies in the United States alone are affected by a fetal syndrome. Fetal Health is there to support those families, promote awareness, and fund research.

It is personal to our sponsors — many owners or employees have been affected by a fetal syndrome, or are on the front line providing and researching new treatments. They do more than provide funds: they fundraise for us, share their personal stories, help provide awareness all year long, and support the families who reach out to us. Our sponsors help us create a true family event, and it’s why the Great Candy Run is so much more than just a themed 5K.