The March of Dimes and YOU!

If you're still on the fence about raising money and/or walking, perhaps you'd like to know some more information about how the March of Dimes benefits you, me, and everyone we know. If you get to the end of this list and can't answer yes to any of these questions, you have my permission to forget about March for Babies and stop reading this blog. (You should also probably visit a doctor...as you are 50+ years behind on some basic vaccinations...)

If you answer yes to any of these questions, consider the impact it's had on your health and the health of your babies (past, present, and future!) and please join the team to raise some money and awareness for the organization that made that all possible.

1. Are you or your partner currently expecting a baby or planning to in the near future?
If yes, you probably know it's important to receive prenatal care, one of the best ways to ensure a healthy birth. Also, you probably know to take at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a day through a multivitamin or fortified cereal to greatly reduce the risk of birth defects of the brain and spinal cord. The March of Dimes works to make sure these important steps are a part of everyone's plan to have a healthy baby. The March of Dimes maintains a comprehensive Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center in English and Spanish, the News Moms Need blog, and programs that help high-risk populations learn about healthy pregnancies and receive prenatal care. For not-quite-parents-to-be, the March of Dimes is a leader in preconception women's health, too, i.e. everything women of childbearing age can do to stay healthy regardless of plans to have a baby.

2. Do you have a child or grandchild who was born prematurely, especially in the past 25 years?
Chances are that child benefited from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), a concept pioneered by the March of Dimes, and artificial surfactant, a life-saving substance. March of Dimes researchers (funded by events like March for Babies) helped develop surfactant and the proper way to administer it to enable premature lungs to expand and contract. It saves the lives of thousands of babies each year. Click here to see other major medical advances accomplished by the March of Dimes research you're supporting. The March of Dimes also launched the NICU Family Support program and currently has at least one NICU Family Support Specialist in every state working one-on-one with families in the NICU. Even if you're never personally experienced this, remember that one in 10 babies in the U.S. spend time in a NICU, meaning that every one of us knows at least one person whose life was saved in a NICU.

3. Do you have a child or grandchild 3 years old or younger?
You've benefited from the March of Dimes support of the "Back to Sleep" initiative to make sure babies sleep on their side or back to prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

4. Do you have a child or grandchild 6 years old or younger?
Your child has benefited from the March of Dimes efforts to ensure children receive the rubella vaccine before starting school.

5. Do you have a child or grandchild 20 years old or younger?
In that time, the March of DImes has funded research into the newborn test that identifies sickle cell anemia, allowing for immediate and effective treatment.

6. Are you or do you have a child or grandchild 30 years old or younger?
You have benefited from the innovation of the sonogram or ultrasound pioneered by March of Dimes researchers.

7. Are you or do you have a child or grandchild 40 years old or younger?
You and your family have benefited from the PKU test given to every baby at birth. Before this test, families would take home their child unaware of special needs, and the condition would cause the child to develop mental retardation.

8. Have you ever received a polio vaccination?
Of course, almost everyone in America has! Thanks to the research behind the Salk vaccine funded by the March of Dimes, polio has been nearly eradicated. (March of Dimes founder and polio sufferer Franklin D. Roosevelt would be so proud!)

Now you can see it is no exaggeration that everyone is affected by the work of the March of Dimes. Feel free to share some of these facts as you're approaching your friends and potential donors. If they have a baby, have had a baby, are having a baby, plan to ever have a baby, have grandbabies, are related to a baby, or ever were a baby (hard to get out of that one), the donation they're making has a direct benefit to them. Pretty incredible, no?



Vintage March of Dimes PSAs.



Modern March of Dimes PSAs.

Thanks for reading! Click on over to Team Bambini to sign up or make a donation.

nuts & bolts

And now, for the basic how-to to get you started fundraising for March for Babies. Step by step. Riddled with cute baby photos just to motivate you a little bit more.



Most of you will want to register online and gather donations electronically. It's quick, simple, and the best way to get the word out to many potential donors with a minimal investment of your time. Here's what you do:

1. Click the banner at the top of this blog. It will take you straight to the team fundraising page. (Or, you can always click the Team Bambini link in the sidebar, or go to the site www.marchforbabies.org/team/bambini - it all takes you to the same place.) Click "Join This Team."



2. Fill in the information to create your personal profile. You'll set your own personal fundraising goal to reach for. Rule of thumb for goal setting: this amount is up to you, but remember - an average walker raises $200, and if you reach it, you get a free March for Babies t-shirt. Pick an amount you think you can reach but also challenge yourself a little bit. There's no penalty for not reaching your goal, and you can always increase it if you reach it.

3. Remember that your username will be part of your fundraising page and will create the link you'll share with donors: www.marchforbabies.org/username .

4. Click "Register Now!"



That's it! You're done! Now a few quick navigation tips to help you get started fundraising:

1. Your personal page is user-friendly and works in a way similar to Blogger, Facebook, etc. You might start by clicking "Edit My Personal Page" on the right of your screen, uploading a photo, editing the text that appears, adding a link to your blog, and otherwise personalizing your page.

2. The widgets (customized graphics that show your fundraising progress bar) can be set up by clicking "Get Custom Fundraising Badges" in the center or "Cast a Wider Fundraising Net - Get a Custom Widget" on the left. Follow the instructions to set up on your blog, email, and/or Facebook. Anyone who clicks on these goes straight to your fundraising page to check it out and make a donation. For example...

Click!

3. Don't forget to send emails as well asking your friends and family to consider sponsoring you with a donation. The "Send Emails" tab will give you templates, but you can always create your own and send them through your own email system as well. This is where many fundraisers see the most success - so don't be shy and use your address book! You might be surprised who's willing to donate if you only ask.

4. The "View Sponsor Form" tab is where you can track credit card donations made to your personal page and enter any cash or check donations you may have.



Some of you (and your donors) may be more comfortable taking the donations offline. This is entirely your choice, and you can do a combination of both methods. If collecting cash or checks or loose change is your style, go for it, especially if you have access to a high-traffic area to place a bucket for donations (an office building, a hair salon, a bank, etc.)

Congratulations, you have completed Fundraising 101 and are ready to start raising money for March for Babies! Coming up: the masters seminars.

(All images courtesy of the March of Dimes model babies. How could you resist?)

bambini = babies

Welcome everyone to the Team Bambini blog!

Having asked all of you to join me in walking and raising money for March for Babies, I wanted a central place to share information on when, where, why, and how we can all participate.

So, for this inaugural post, the basics:

Our team is walking in the Weber/Davis County March for Babies, Saturday, May 1 in Layton, Utah at Layton Commons Park. Our goal is to raise $1500. That's 10 people raising $150, 20 people raising $75, six people raising $250, or one very generous donation. I assure you, we can do this, and it will be fun. Check this space often for fundraising tips, encouragement, event details, and all sorts of information about the March of Dimes. Please add this to your RSS feeds, Google Reader, bookmarks, favorites, or wherever you read blogs.

I'll begin with the first question on everyone's minds: why should I walk and where does the money go? Everyone has a different reason for walking and I hope this blog will help you find yours.

From the March for Babies website:

"When you walk in March for Babies, you give hope to the more than half a million babies born too soon each year. The money you raise supports programs in your community that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. And it funds research to find answers to the problems that threaten our babies. We've been walking since 1970 and have raised an incredible $1.8 billion to benefit all babies."

This is my favorite graphic to use to help make the connection to the March of Dimes research and programs that we're raising money for:

(click and zoom if it's difficult to read)

And a visual of the March of Dimes umbrella of research - you might be surprised what's covered under there:

If you'd like to learn even more about the March of Dimes, this website has tons of information. Most of us on this March for Babies team have never had a baby born prematurely or with a birth defect or have experienced an infant death, but I can promise you, we've all been affected by the March of Dimes in some way (to be proven in an upcoming blog!). Also stay tuned for the "Why I Walk" posts where I hope some of you will consider sharing a little bit about your personal reasons for joining the team and raising money for the March of Dimes.

Thank you all so much for your help! I'm so excited to have my great big extended family come together to support me in this. It's going to be fun to watch this team grow and to see all your smiling faces at the walk...aiding me in my secret ambition to head up the largest and most successful family team in Weber and Davis counties!

I know you still have questions (is there a minimum donation to participate? do I bring my kids to the walk? what should my fundraising goal be? how do I sign up?), so please leave any and all questions you might have in the comments section so we can all read them, and I will either answer them there or in a separate post.