Calling all Team Families - come out this Sunday for a day of family fun!
Bassin4Babies will be held Sunday, April, 3, 2011, at Jones Brothers Park in Jonestown, TX. Bass fishing tournament will begin at 7am.
SpringFest, including a trackless train, moonwalk, face painting, balloon art, and Home Depot's Kids Workshop from 12PM to 3PM.
There will be a raffle during this event with grand prizes such as two weekend vacations at area lakes, a large propane grill, a kayak, and much much more.
The March of Dimes Family Teams Volunteer Committee has been busy arranging fun stations for the Kiddie Korner.
Many thanks to the following businesses for their time and support in making walk day fun for the children.
Already lined up we have Hayley Kohler doing face painting, a demonstration from Mad Science (audience participation welcome), and a performance by Darren Petterson of "Circus Chicken Dog" (this will be a dog-less performance) We may also have a local musician who to get the children singing and dancing.
As of today, the top Austin Family Team is Team Landon and Gavin McSpadden, headed by Team Captains Michael & Melissa McSpadden, at $3,576!!
Every day thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. Team Landon and Gavin McSpadden is walking in March for Babies 2011 because they want to do something about this.
“Twenty fingers, twenty toes, two sweet babies with cheeks of rose.
Born on the same day, two gifts from above, lives entwined, two babies to love.”
On August 3, 2008 Melissa delivered their identical twin boys, Landon and Gavin at 22 weeks, 5 days gestation due to an unknown incompetent cervix. Their babies passed away during childbirth and left a huge void in their lives. Landon weighed 1 pound 4 ounces and Gavin weighed 1 pound 2 ounces. They were so perfect. Although their twins never took a breath, they took their hearts. They were real, they were beautiful and they were their babies. It is extremely important to them that their existence is always acknowledged, that the memory of them never fades.
This family team was created to memorialize Landon and Gavin and provide financial support to the March of Dimes to improve the health of all babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
“Gone yet not forgotten, although we are apart,
your spirits live within us, forever in our hearts.”
Melissa's fundraising tips:
Postcards
Emails
Facebook
Bulletin Board at the YMCA and put postcard in 400 YMCA Trailsetter Race packets
Through my school/students
Custom silicone wristbands (like the Livestrong bands) that have my team name on them and I sell them at my school with all profits going to my team.
By Christel Snelson, of the Seton Wonders Family Team.
Our March of Dimes family team is a bit unique. We're family, just not the kind you usually think of.
Our family was born in the spring of 2006. Each of us gave birth to a baby (or 2) too early that spring.
We found each other in the rocking chairs next to the isolettes and warming beds in our NICU wards; in the hospital elevators; queued up for a turn in the pumping room; sprawled on the waiting room couches during shift changes and in the next seat at the March of Dimes support group meetings.
We found each other and held each others hands through terrifying moments where loss seemed imminent. We celebrated each others joys, the thrill of a gained ounce or reduced oxygen. We spoke medical jargon like trained professionals and parceled each day's schedule according to the NICU's closures.
We celebrated each baby that was finally released to go home, but inwardly, we felt envious and despaired that we'd never be that lucky. After the NICU, many months for some of our family, we battled the isolation of parenting medically fragile children with carefully planned, germaphobic playgroups and nights out for the mothers.
In 2006, during the March for Babies, we were all struggling to survive on the top floor of Seton hospital.
Now, each spring, we memorialize and celebrate our children by walking in the March for Babies.
Our family team is solidified by experiences we wish on no one. Ever.
Our team is built on loss and gain.
We walk for Angels, there are 3.
We walk to raise awareness and celebrate life.
We walk for our victorious and courageous children.
I march because I know too many women who have delivered at
35, 33, 32, 31, 28, even 24 weeks.
I march because some of these women have had to say goodbye to their babies and give them to God.
I march so that more women can become educated on how to have a healthy pregnancy.
I march so that all premature infants can get the utmost care
and their families can rely on the support and information provided by the March of Dimes.
I march for:
R & C, 31 week preemies, 38 day NICU survivors, and all around miracles.
Leigh Ann's fundraising tips: I definitely put the call out to friends and family in my email address book. And last year was the first year I used Facebook to fundraise as well. I was $5 short of my goal, so I posted the link and that I was so close, and within minutes an old friend from high school donated the $5 to meet my goal! I was in awe! In a nutshell:
email everyone you know. You never know who will throw you a donation.
post the link to your personal fundraising page on Facebook. Same as above, you never know who will be inspired to donate
In 2009 I baked large "Texas sized" cupcakes, decorated them with light purple frosting, and visited my neighbors, along with the girls. Each cupcake was technically only $1, but everyone gave me $5 each, and that really helped me meet that year's goal.
post it often! Not like 5 times a day, but if you are utilizing Facebook, post it maybe once or twice a week. Send out a second or maybe even a third email notifying friends and family of your progress and reminding them how important the cause is to you
Blog about it! Put the badge on your blog and make it super easy for someone to just click and donate.
Your team can order Family Team t-shirts through the March of Dimes' vendor: EA Graphics which has all you need for March for Babies tshirts, logos, etc.
Send friendly reminder out to your friends and families on Monday. It takes an average of 3 emails before someone will donate. Send the email out on Monday because the later in the week you send it, the less likely people are to respond.
Since 1975, the staff of the Marialice Shivers Regional Neonatal Center at Seton Medical Center Austin has had a special bond with the graduates of their program. Each year they look forward to seeing how the babies have grown and changed.
This year they are celebrating their 36th year and would like to invite the graduates and their families for an afternoon of fun and to see their former nurses and doctors. There will be trains, moonwalks, refreshements, t-shirts, balloon sculpting, and much more!!
36th Annual Neonatal Reunion Picnic
Saturday, April 16, 2011 from 1:00-4:00pm
Bailey Square Park (2 blocks South of Seton Medical Center)
Since re-starting this blog a few days ago we've noticed a lot of visitors - from all over the country!! Coming to us from so many ways - through google searches, direct links, etc.
We're curious -- and we need your help to answer this question -- what brought you here to this blog? were you looking for particular information? checking team stats? looking for fundraising ideas? what?
Do you have any suggestions for content?
If we can read your minds (or your comments) we can better tailor this blog to the needs of our readers.
So please take a moment and leave a comment here as to how you came to this blog and why and if you found what you were looking for.
Thanks for helping us make this a better blog for our Austin Family Teams!
And remember, if you have a Family Team story to share, especially fundraising ideas that you are using, we'd really love for you to share it with us. This is your blog, and we need your stories.
This year’s March of Dimes Austin Ambassador Family are the Warrens: Greg, Shea and little Morgan.
The Warrens have seen the work of the March of Dimes first hand as they dealt with the emotional rollercoaster of living in the NICU for 69 days!
The Warren family was shocked when baby Morgan was born at 26 weeks and weighed only 2 pounds. Little Morgan had early blood oxygenation issues caused by respiratory weakness and serious digestion problems. For the first 4 weeks after she came home from the NICU her mom and dad carried a heart monitor with them 24 hours a day. It took several months for her digestion issue to be resolved by specialists. She experienced extreme and noticeable discomfort and all her parents could do was hold her and try their best to comfort her.
During their ordeal, Shea and Greg endlessly researched organizations that could support them in the NICU and provide information about preemies. They discovered the March of Dimes and have been active volunteers for 4 years. Morgan just celebrated her 5th birthday on December 1st. She is indeed a happy, healthy, 'girly-girl'. The little Warren Champion loves dancing, swimming and most importantly, singing.
As the 2011 Austin Ambassador Family, Morgan and her parents will help raise awareness of premature birth and encourage families, companies and individuals to be a champion for our tiniest Texans - by walking in the March for Babies.
Team Bryson is no stranger to the March for Babies. Probably one of the most creative family teams in Austin, last year they raised over $3000 for the March of Dimes.
This year they are once again hosting Bassin for Babies, a fishing tournament with proceeds going to the March of Dimes.
Read about them in the Hill Country News, and if you or your friends like fishing, you really should go Bassin for Babies! You'll have a great day with the family, you may win some prize money, and you'll definitely be helping babies everywhere.
April 3 at Jones Brothers Park
Children's Events from Noon-3:00pm
Register at www.bassin4babies.com
For more info contact Lindsey Richarte at 512-260-9711 or email lsrenee23@yahoo.com
The 2011 March of Dimes' Austin Chapter's Family Teams Committee has met a few times already and we're gearing up for the exciting weeks leading up to the May 7 March for Babies.
We've got a team moms and dads working really hard to take care of the little details that make this walk so special. You know what I mean, the things that keep you coming back year after year to walk with tens of thousands of people in the name of premature babies.
Keep visiting us for updates on what's going on here in Austin. If your team has a story to share, leave your email address in the comments below. I'll contact you (and then delete the comment) and we'll get your story up here for all to see.
Bassin4Babies will be held Sunday, April, 3, 2011, at Jones Brothers Park in Jonestown, TX. Bass fishing tournament will begin at 7am.
