Diane Raver
CNHI
BATESVILLE — Area individuals and families are encouraged to participate in the Southeastern Indiana March for Babies because the annual event “raises funds and awareness for educational programs of the March of Dimes for the general public and health care professionals,” reports senior community director Kimberly Jewell, Columbus. The organization’s mission is to help save babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. “People walk for various reasons – to celebrate a healthy child, to honor and memorialize a child that was lost, and others participate to raise awareness about the importance of having a healthy baby .... Some like the exercise and the opportunity to support a local cause in their community,” she notes. “We’re expecting approximately 200 people with 20 teams or more” to take part in the 5K walk, which begins and ends at Liberty Park. Participants come from many areas, including Batesville, Greensburg, Brookville, Aurora, Rising Sun, St. Leon, Versailles, Lawrenceburg and Osgood. About 12:45 p.m., several ambassador family members will speak to the crowd, says Jewell, who has been a full-time March of Dimes employee for almost 11 years. This year, there will be a Mission Family Tent, “where families can display a poster depicting their story and how the March of Dimes has touched their lives. “In addition, specially-colored beads will be available for participants to wear showing how March of Dimes has affected their lives .... red beads represent birth defects; silver beads, premature birth; gold beads, infant mortality, when a child passed away before his/her first birthday; green beads, future parents; and purple beads, for all parents.” The dollar goal for the southeastern Indiana march is $25,000, “slightly over the $23,000 we raised last year,” Jewell announces. The 2009 March for Babies events across the country brought in over $116 million. “Local contributions come back to the communities in the way of educational materials and pamphlets available to the general public and health care providers .... Funds support local, state and national grants that are awarded to further the mission of the March of Dimes .... For example, Family Connections, Versailles, has been a local and state grant recipient over the last several years.” A volunteer planning committee (Brenda Wheat of United Community Bank, Ron Green of WRBI, Kasi Banschbach of Margaret Mary Community Hospital, Kelli Walter of Fidelity Investments, Betsy Schilling and Rita Mauer) has been working hard to ensure the event’s success. Jewell stresses that in the March of Dimes campaign against premature births, “education remains a key – educating women of child-bearing age on the importance of folic acid, educating expectant mothers on the importance of early prenatal checkups and the importance of eliminating smoking and drinking from their lifestyle. “Educating health care professionals on the latest perinatal topics ... and providing them tools and resources to give to their patients ... and the continuation of educating parents about the importance of newborn screening and vaccinations once the baby is born” is also important. Southeastern Indiana March for Babies Date: Sunday, May 2 Time: Registration at noon, walk at 1 p.m. Where: Liberty Park Pavilion. Route: North on Park Avenue, west on Boehringer Street, north on Smith Street, west on Columbus Avenue, south through the Batesville Intermediate School parking lot, east on West Pearl Street, south on Elm Street, west on George Street, south on Mulberry Street and east on Volz Street back to the park. Sponsors: Margaret Mary Community Hospital, United Community Bank, Versailles Super Valu, Honda, Enhanced Telecommunications Corp., Napoleon State Bank, Wal-Mart and WRBI. Cost: There is no entrance fee, but each participant is asked to make a $10 minimum donation. Info: Kimberly Jewell, 317-262-4668 or kjewell@marchofdimes.com. Forms: Registration forms can be obtained at www.marchforbabies.org.
