March for Babies is May 19 on YSU Campus
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- On May 19, about 1,000 March of Dimes supporters will gather at the WATTS Center on the Youngstown State University campus to begin their March for Babies. The event is the largest fundraiser for the March of Dimes in the Mahoning Valley and is expected to raise $175,000 this year.
March for Babies, presented by ValleyCare Health System of Ohio, will start walking at noon with participants registering at 11 a.m. ValleyCare Health System’s CEO, Kirk Ray, is the 2013 March for Babies chairman, and employees at Trumbull Memorial Hospital and Northside Medical Center will make up one of this year’s walk’s largest teams. In their continued support, General Motors Corp. and United Auto Workers serve as top sponsors and top walk teams.
March for Babies is a family celebration that will feature a one-mile and three-mile walk route around the YSU campus. HOT 101’s AC & Kelly will kick off the event. After the walk, supporters will enjoy food donated by area restaurants such Panera Bread, Pizza Hut and Chipotle, and the kids will enjoy activities in the Kids Zone.
The March of Dimes Foundation was begun by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1938 to fight childhood polio. Nearly one in nine babies are born prematurely in this country, and in the Mahoning Valley, an average of one baby is lost every week before his or her first birthday.
Other sponsors include the GM Foundation and the Lordstown GM Complex, the DeBartolo Corp. and the Home Savings & Loan Foundation. Nationally, the event is supported by Macy’s, Kmart, Famous Footwear, United, Farmers Insurance, Sanofi Pasteur, Cigna, Mission Pharmaceutical and Watson Pharmaceuticals.
Registration can be done online, or walkers can bring donations on the day of the walk and register there.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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