Nashville, TN – It’s March for Babies! March of Dimes to hold its biggest fundraiser in Tennessee at LP Field Riverfront to give babies a healthy start in life.
Mark your calendars! On Saturday, April 18th at the LP Field Riverfront, thousands of families and business leaders will join together in the March of Dimes’ annual March for Babies.
This year’s Nashville Ambassador Family is the Wrathers. From their story “Ben and I were distraught and overwhelmed with grief and heartache. We had done everything right, we were good people, and we didn’t deserve to have this happen,” shared Kristin & Ben after losing their daughter, Cora.
I was online one day and saw a banner ad for the March of Dimes. I knew their focus was on the health of babies, so I clicked. That ultimately led us to create our own Family Team, Team Wrather, and I became a member of the State Communications Committee. Eight months after Cora died, we found out we were expecting again! At almost 38 weeks, my blood pressure spiked suddenly and I was admitted to Williamson Medical Center for an induction. On January 19th, 2012, our son, Samuel, was born. He was healthy and beautiful and an amazing blessing!”
Registration begins at 8:30am with the 2-mile walk kicking off at 9:30am, which goes across 2 bridges. Participation in March for Babies will provide a memorable and rewarding day for the whole family including food & drink, a stroller decorating & spirit contest, Zumba, live music, activities for families, memorable moments to connect with the mission of the March of Dimes, a kids zone, costume characters, face painting and more! To register for the free event, visit www.marchforbabies.org.
We’ll also be featuring live music by Country Music Trio, Mason Grace. www.masongracemusic.com
Funds raised by March for Babies in Tennessee help support prenatal wellness programs, research grants, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) family support programs and advocacy efforts for stronger, healthier babies.
The most urgent infant health problem in the U.S. today is premature birth. The March of Dimes is committed to preventing it by funding research to find the answers to problems that continue to threaten the health of babies.
- Each week in the state of Tennessee, 240 babies are born prematurely or 1 in 8, which is the equivalent to 11 kindergarten classes.
- National, that number is 1 in 9 that are born prematurely.
- In TN every week, 14 babies die before reaching their first birthday.
- In 2014, Tennessee earned a grade of “C” from its premature birth rate of 12.6%, up from a “D” in 2011.
- Nationally, more than 500,000 babies are born prematurely and 120,000 babies are born with a birth defect each year.
- Birth defect have been the leading cause of infant mortality for the past 20 years, accounting for 1 in 5 infant deaths.
The March of Dimes is sponsored locally by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Turner Construction, Senex, CCA & Affinion Group.
To donate, visit www.marchofdimes.com/tennessee or call 615.399.3200 to help babies be born healthy.
About the March of Dimes
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies®, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Early research led to the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines that all babies still receive.
Other breakthroughs include new treatments for premature infants and children with birth defects. About 4 million babies are born each year in the United States, and all have benefitted from March of Dimes lifesaving research and education.
