What a sight to see so many community members running, walking, and cheering—all making a difference for kids and families across our region.
Keith J. Loud, MD, MScThe 20th annual CHaD HERO drew more than 3,600 participants, sponsors, and volunteers on Sunday, October 19, transforming the Dartmouth Green in Hanover into a celebration of community and generosity. The event raised a record-breaking $1 million for critical child and family support services at the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD) and throughout the Dartmouth Health Children’s system.
The day featured Cam’s Course a 1-mile fun run, 5K run/walk, and a challenging half marathon, followed by a family-friendly festival on the Green. Teams and families—many dressed as superheroes—cheered each other across the finish line.
“What a sight to see so many community members running, walking, and cheering—all making a difference for kids and families across our region,” said Keith J. Loud, MD, MSc, physician-in-chief of Dartmouth Health Children’s. “Their generosity helps us bring the best care where it’s needed most and supports our commitment to treat every child, regardless of their ability to pay. That’s what makes all our participants HEROES today.”
Since 2006, the CHaD HERO has raised more than $11.6 million. Founded by Jeff Hastings, the event has grown from a half marathon with 700 participants raising $120,000 in its first year into one of northern New England’s premier athletic fundraising events. “It’s incredible to see how far the HERO has come,” said Hastings. “From those early days with just a few hundred runners to reaching a record-breaking $1 million this year for our 20th anniversary—it’s a testament to how deeply this community cares about Dartmouth Health Children’s and CHaD and the families it serves.” Funds raised support vital programs including child life, social work and mental health access initiatives, ensuring every child receives expert, compassionate care.
The event is made possible thanks to major sponsors including the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation, Blood’s Catering and Party Rentals, Couch Family Foundation, Finding Our Stride, Hypertherm Associates HOPE Foundation, Moosilauke Visions, and Summit Distributing, along with over 300 volunteers who helped bring the HERO to life.
Fundraising continues. For more information or to contribute, visit CHaDHERO.org.
About CHaD
As New Hampshire's only full-service, comprehensive children's hospital, the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth‐Hitchcock (CHaD) is committed to providing outstanding compassionate care for children and their families. Their physician expertise provides primary, specialty, and tertiary care to the children of New Hampshire, Vermont, and beyond. CHaD offers inpatient (hospital care) and outpatient (same day care) services at Dartmouth‐Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. Outpatient and same-day surgery services are available at Dartmouth‐Hitchcock Manchester. Primary care is available at Dartmouth‐Hitchcock facilities in Bedford, Concord, Keene, Lebanon, Manchester, and Nashua, NH, and Bennington, VT. For more information about CHaD, please visit childrens.dartmouth-health.org or contact us at 603-650‐KIDS or chad.community.relations@hitchcock.org.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer, serves patients across northern New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,000 providers in almost every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH, as well as across its wide network of hospitals, clinics and care facilities. DHMC is consistently named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, one of only 57 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the nation, and the only such center in northern New England; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital and multiple locations around the region; member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire; and more than 24 clinics that provide ambulatory and specialty services across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its historical partnership with Dartmouth and the Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually, and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials recognized across the globe with Geisel and the White River Junction VA Medical Center in White River Junction, VT. Dartmouth Health and its more than 13,000 employees are deeply committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in our communities, and to providing each of our patients with exceptional, personal care.
About Dartmouth Health Children's
Dartmouth Health Children's is the only comprehensive pediatric healthcare system in the region. Fully integrated in Dartmouth Health and anchored for more than 30 years by Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD)—in Lebanon, NH—Dartmouth Health Children's promotes health, advances knowledge, and delivers the best patient and family-centered care for infants, children, and adolescents across New Hampshire and Vermont. Dartmouth Health Children's conducts groundbreaking research and educates the next generations of health professionals as the primary pediatric partner of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. Highly skilled and collaborative child health professionals provide care in multiple settings across the region. Outpatient specialty visits and same-day surgery services are available at Children's Hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (CHaD) and Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics Manchester. Primary care appointments in general pediatrics are available at Dartmouth Hitchcock Clinics in Bedford, Concord, Lebanon, Manchester and Nashua, NH and Bennington, VT; as well as at Dartmouth Health members: Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital, Cheshire Medical Center, New London Hospital and Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center.