From left, Saline Medical Reserve Corps Coordinator Russ Donnell, Daisy, Mayor Connie Latimer and Pam Deutsch, MRC member. Latimer received a T-shirt Tuesday, May 20, from the Saline MRC because the city of Marshall purchased the T-shirts for the event to help sponsor a good cause. (Rachel Harper/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge]

The first annual "Dog and Jog" will be held Saturday, May 24, starting at the Guthrie Playground parking lot at Indian Foothills Park. The 5k run and one-mile Dog Fun Walk will benefit emergency preparedness for pets sponsored by the Saline Medical Reserve Corps.

Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the walk/run will begin at 8 a.m. The entry fee is $10 per runner or dog.

"If a child is wanting to walk a dog, but needs supervision, we don't want to charge $20," said Saline MRC Coordinator Russ Donnell." It is $10 per dog."

If a person is walking two dogs, it will cost $20, Donnell said.

A person deciding to walk for the cause without a dog will cost $10.

"We are trying to raise funds for kennels," he said. "But it is a fun thing and we want to stress that."

The funds raised from the Dog and Jog will be used to create educational materials for emergency preparedness for pets and to purchase pet crates for evacuation and housing of pets in an emergency such as a tornado or ice storm.

Saline MRC will also be accepting donations of new or used cages or crates at the Dog and Jog or anytime at the Saline County Health Department, located on Atchison Avenue.

The Dog and Jog is being held to raise awareness that walking your dog is a healthy and fun way to get outdoors and to promote exercise for owners and their dogs.

Saline Medical Reserve Corps is a local chapter of the national Civilian Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps, sponsored by the U.S. Surgeon General.

Saline MRC is dedicated to establishing a team of local volunteers and medical and public health professionals who contribute their skills and expertise throughout the year as well as in times of community need. There are currently 743 MRC units with 155,350 volunteers in communities across the United States.

The MRC program was created in 2002 as a group of medical and other professionals who serve as volunteers to immediately respond to natural disasters and emergencies.

After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, many medical and public health professionals, and other volunteers wanted to support emergency relief efforts, but there was no organized approach to channel their efforts.

The MRC program provides the structure necessary to deploy organized, trained and credentialed personnel ready to respond to emergencies. Saline MRC is a community-based group of local volunteers who train for emergencies and also assist in public health and education activities throughout the year including decontamination methods, automatic external defibrillator use, CPR, blood drives and assisting the public health department in flu vaccination clinics.

Entry forms are available at Saline County Health Department, 1825 Atchison Ave.; Viking Athletic Goods, 74 W. Arrow St.; or Salt Fork YMCA, 740 E. Yerby St.

For more information, contact Russ Donnell at 660-886-3434.

Contact Rachel Harper at marshallcity@socket.net