First regional ChiroThon raises $30K+ for Michigan chiropractic awareness

On Sept. 15-17, the Michigan Association of Chiropractors (MAC) partnered with the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), a nonprofit dedicated to educating the public about chiropractic care, to hold the first regional ChiroThon fundraising event, which was livestreamed over the internet to reach a worldwide audience.

“The first-ever Regional ChiroThon™ with the Michigan Association of Chiropractors exceeded our expectations, with over 53,000 views of the livestreams and $31,372 raised,” said Kent S. Greenawalt, F4CP’s founder and chairman.

Greenawalt continued, “I am committed to match dollar-for-dollar any donation to F4

CP for the remainder of 2023 until the organization reaches one million dollars.”

Donations will go toward raising awareness of the benefits of chiropractic in Michigan, a state which has been especially impacted by the opioid epidemic. As of June 2023, says the Michigan Opioid Partnership, Michigan averages eight opioid overdose deaths per day. Greater awareness of non-drug approaches to pain relief could help decrease that number.

Three days of celebs and sessions

The star-studded fundraiser went live during the MAC’s 2023 Fall

Convention at the Detroit Marriott. Hosted by F4CP president Sherry McAllister, DC, CCSP, it featured showcases, raffles and giveaways as well as several celebrity guests, including cohost Fab Mancini, DC, FICC, FACC, world-renowned chiropractor, educator and healthy living expert; Alessandra Colón of The Learning Channel’s hit series “Crack Addicts,” a reality show about first-time chiropractic patients; and kayaking Guinness world record holder Cyril Derreumaux, an adventurer and motivational speaker.

Sessions throughout the three-day event included discussions on women’s and men’s health, yoga for pain management, wellness tips, chiropractic around the world, and how chiropractic benefits veterans.

Second year of success

The regional ChiroThon event emulates the original ChiroThon, which debuted in August 2022 in Orlando during the Florida Chiropractic Association’s The National, one of the largest events in the chiropractic industry. It attracted a worldwide audience of 85,000 viewers

and raised more than $175,000 to support F4CP’s “Naturally, Chiropractic” ad campaign, which shared positive, factual information with the media, industry groups, government organizations and business leaders about the safe, effective, drug-free health care chiropractic offers people.

Two of the TV spots in the campaign, “Chiropractic Care for Older Adults” and “Chiropractic Care for Pregnancy,” aired nationally and were named gold winners in the 2023 Hermes Creative Awards, an international creative-industry competition.

The first ChiroThon event earned two top media industry awards in 2022: a MarCom Gold in the special event category and a Healthcare Digital Marketing (HDM) Award Gold in the PR event category.

Check out the videos and donate today

To watch video clips from the livestream, visit f4cp.org/mac.

To make a donation, visit f4cp.org/donate. (Remember, Kent S. Greenawalt, F4CP’s founder, has promised to match donations made through the end of 2023, so your gift will have twice the impact.)