Repost: Marching For Babies

For the past 4 years, I have volunteered for the March of Dimes doing the March for Babies event in the Northwestern Chicago suburbs. For those that aren't familiar with it, "It's America's favorite walking event! When you walk, you give hope to the families of babies born too soon or sick. The money you raise supports programs in your community that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. And it funds research to find answers to the serious problems that threaten our babies. We've been walking since 1970 and have raised an incredible $1.8 billion to benefit all babies." (Per http://www.marchforbabies.org/)

As some of you know, my Goddaughter Ailish and her twin sister Maggie were born at prematurely, at 32 weeks gestation. Both Ailish and Maggie were in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for just over one month. They were on breathing and feeding tubes for a majority of their NICU stay. Neither Ailish nor Maggie has suffered any permanent damage due to their prematurity, but, they were lucky. There are millions of families that have lost their children to premature birth. And millions more children that have suffered irreversible damage due to being born too soon. Pictured below are Maggie and Ailish shortly after being born...

and here they are last year, with their younger sister, Maeve....

The first year that I participated in the event, I walked by myself. I just felt that I wanted to do something to honor Ailish and Maggie. After that first walk by myself, I was asked to be on the committee to help put the March for Babies together. We'd meet at least once a month, discussing logistics, collecting donations, calling for company sponsorships, forming walk teams and putting on the event. In that time, I also campaigned to start a walk team of my own, consisting of friends and co-workers. Since I began volunteering, my walk team (consisting of typically 10 people or so) and I have raised over $20,000 for the March for Babies event to support the March of Dimes.

This year, I took a break from the committee and ALMOST from the walk...because of everything that's happened since the wedding. I finally came to my senses though, and see no reason not to to walk, even if I'm not on the committee. So, here I am. Ready to walk...hopefully to raise a bit of money too. Last year's goal was $6600. This year I'm betting I won't hit $500. I know how bad the economy is for everyone. But, we'll see how it goes....

http://www.marchforbabies.org/katers1279