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March of Dimes to host “March on Celebration” on June 25th

March of Dimes - March for BabiesNashville, TN – Local families and business leaders will join together on Sunday, June 25th, 2017, at Core Civic for a “March On Celebration.” The gathering makes up for the 2017 March for Babies event that was cancelled earlier in the spring due to inclement weather.

March for Babies is the organization’s biggest annual fundraiser and the nation’s oldest fundraising walk that helps more babies survive and thrive.

March of Dimes to host "March on Celebration"

One family attending is this year’s Nashville Ambassador Family: the Howell Family. Emily and Luke Howell were excited about becoming parents again in 2010.

Everything was going according to plan, when suddenly Emily developed preeclampsia and sudden onset HELLP Syndrome, and she was rushed to deliver her baby girl. Lucy was born at only 29 weeks, weighing 2 lbs. 8 ½ oz.

She suffered from underdeveloped lungs and was put on oxygen. She was also born with two holes in her heart that the doctors wanted to keep an eye on. Lucy spent 53 days fighting in a hospital Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Today, the Howell family is dedicated to making sure other parents don’t have to experience the same trauma.

Damon Hininger, CEO of CoreCivic serves in 2017 as the Nashville March for Babies Chair.  Hininger became involved with March for Babies through a long-time friend, mentor and colleague, Jimmy Turner – Ashley Turner’s husband and Ellie Turner’s father of Team Ellie– who passed away in 2014.

By serving as chair of this year’s Music City March for Babies, Hininger proudly carries on Jimmy’s legacy of working to ensure that every baby gets a healthy start. “As a father myself, I am delighted to serve in this important role to raise urgently-needed funds for the March of Dimes mission to prevent birth defects and premature birth.”

The event will run from 11:00am to 2:00pm. Nashville residents can sign up today at marchforbabies.org and make a donation to help more babies get a healthy start in life. Donations for March of Babies accepted through June 30th.

“Although we can’t replicate all of the plans we had for the original event, we wanted to hold a celebration for the fundraising efforts and support by the Nashville community,” says Hininger. “We will celebrate children and parents who experienced the NICU or special care nursery and recognize these families. One way we will do that is with a Superhero Sprint for kids.” 

For a suggested donation of $20.00 per child or $30.00 per family (kids age 1 to 10), Superhero Sprint participants will receive a purple March of Dimes cape. Hotdogs and snacks also will be served to all attendees.

Premature birth is the leading cause of death among babies in the United States. It affects about 380,000 babies nationally and 8,945 babies in Tennessee each year. That’s 1 in 9 Tennessee babies too soon. Funds raised by March for Babies in Nashville support March of Dimes programs that provide comfort and support for moms and babies as well as innovative research to find the unknown causes of premature birth and birth defects.

The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. For more than 75 years, moms and babies have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and breakthroughs.

For the latest resources and health information, visit our websites marchofdimes.org and nacersano.org. If you have been affected by prematurity or birth defects, visit our shareyourstory.org community to find comfort and support. For detailed national, state and local perinatal statistics, visit persistats.org. Find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

The 2017 March for Babies is sponsored nationally by Kmart, Famous Footwear, Macy’s, Cigna, HCA, and regional sponsor Publix Super Markets, Inc. In our community, March for Babies is sponsored by CoreCivic, The Children’s Hospital, Cigna, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, WSMV-TV, Mix 92.9, Nashville Scene, and Lamar Advertising Company.

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