BY MARY WICOFF
Commercial-News
DANVILLE
May 09, 2008 11:08 am
—
The March of Dimes walk on Saturday has a new name, but the same focus — bringing healthy babies into the world.
Formerly known as WalkAmerica, the event now is called March for Babies. This is the first year for the new name.
Kristina Oncken-Cortez, community director with the Central Illinois office, explained the name was changed so “people could recognize what we’re doing and what we’re walking for.”
The old name didn’t represent the walkers’ purpose and could have applied to any fundraiser, she said.
Between 100 and 150 walkers are expected at Saturday’s event, which will cover 3.1 miles. Teams have registered in advance, but any individual is welcome to show up Saturday and participate. Or, people may make donations at the starting point, Lincoln Park.
Among the walkers will be Alicia Pettigrew of Danville, who will push a double stroller with daughters, Sarah, 2, and Emily, almost 3 months old.
Sarah was born 8 weeks early in 2006, weighing 4 pounds, 9 ounces.
She is now a healthy toddler, thanks to research conducted by the March of Dimes and the care she received in the neonatal intensive care unit at Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana.
“She has no lasting effects from being premature,” Pettigrew said.
Emily arrived on Feb. 14, just a day early.
While her children are healthy, Pettigrew realizes others aren’t so lucky. Anyone who donates to the March of Dimes will help the organization fund programs to save babies, including those born prematurely.
“I personally think the March of Dimes in some way or another touches all of us,” she said.
“It’s important they’re all happy and healthy,” she said, referring to babies, “and that’s what the March of Dimes is trying to do.”
The walk will be held even if it rains, and Pettigrew encourages people to come out and join the walkers or simply make a donation.
Pettigrew has a team together that already has raised $1,500 for the March of Dimes.
The walk is the organization’s largest fundraiser, with money going to research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies. In 2003, the organization launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature births.
Last year, Vermilion County had the highest morbidity rate in the state, said local walk chairman Shirley Sloop of Danville. That includes deaths and consequences of premature birth, such as developmental delays.
Lack of prenatal care within the first six months of pregnancy is the main cause, she said.
“Our goal is to have full-term babies,” said Sloop, who was an obstetrics nurse for more than 35 years.
The March of Dimes funded the first neonatal intensive care unit in Danville in the 1970s, she said.
Pre-term deliveries cost more in the long run because the babies need extra help and care throughout their lives, Sloop said. Employers also shoulder much of the expense, as parents take time off to care for the babies.
The average cost for an infant’s hospital stay is $4,300; for a premature baby, it’s $58,000, she said.
Thanks for the March of Dimes, all newborns now are screened for 28 genetic and blood problems, Sloop noted.
Why should anyone participate in Saturday’s walk or make a donation?
Sloop had a simple answer: “For healthier infants in the future, be involved.”
COMING UP
The March for Babies will start at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Lincoln Park pavilion. Registration and warm-ups will begin at 9 a.m.
Last-minute walkers are invited, as well as people who simply want to make a donation.
For more information, call the Central Illinois Division office at 359-3730 or visit the Web site http://www.marchofdimes.com/illinois
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