March of Dimes 2007

Kaylee Grace, Ambassador Baby

(This message is from Kaylee Grace's Aunt Barbie)

 

Many of you probably remember last year that I participated in a March of Dimes Walk in honor of my very special niece Kaylee Grace Smith and in memory of her brothers, Kolton and Kooper and sisters, Karlee and Kennadee. This event was very special to me as the March of Dimes raises money to help babies like Kaylee who are born premature. A few statistics that I “borrowed” from the March of Dimes website… Every week 342 babies born in Georgia arrive too soon. In fact, since 1981, the rate of premature birth in the U.S. has escalated an astounding 29 percent. Premature birth can happen to any pregnant woman and no one knows why. The March of Dimes has played a role in making America's children healthier for more than 65 years and now we're taking on the problem of pre-term birth. Visit www.marchofdimes.com for more information on the March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign. I am sorry that I was not very good about keeping you informed last year but did not have the numbers until mid-summer and by that time Kaylee Grace was home and we were quite busy. Yet, last year, out of all of the walking teams who participated in Dublin, the “5K” team (that was us), was third in the amount of money that was raised –only beaten out by Fairview Park Hospital and the Heart of Georgia Technical College… Not too bad for a small group of people from Smalltown, USA. I would like to thank everybody who participated by walking or making a donation. I would also like to thank everyone for your prayers and for your support during the last year. You mean bunches to us. This year, we are doing it again. Even better, MY NIECE, Miss Kaylee Grace Smith has been selected as this year’s “Ambassador Baby” for the Laurens County Walk. She will be recognized on posters throughout Laurens, Telfair and Wheeler counties. She will participate in an introduction breakfast to meet the March of Dimes committee and other “dignitaries” in Laurens County. She will help cut the ribbon to start the walk and she, along with her family, will start the first lap of the Laurens County walk. We are extremely excited, as there are many people who know Kaylee’s story. She is a very special baby. I send you this as I wish to honor her by again participating in raising money for this wonderful cause. This event will occur May 12, 2007 at 10:00 am at the Fairview Park Hospital walking track. The website shows the Macon walk but that is because they said that the Dublin walk was "smalltown". Let's prove them otherwise. If you are willing to help me, I have a website to accept donations established at… http://www.walkamerica.org/kayleesaunt. If you wish to leave your donation there, simply click on “Sponsor me”. If you prefer, you can mail your donation to me in the form of a check and I can handle posting it to the March of Dimes website for you. My home address is PO Box 876, Helena, GA 31037. No donation is too big or too small. If you would like to sign up to walk, you should also be able to do this on my website. If you need my assistance, call me or send me an email and I will do what I can to get you started. Thank you yet again for your support.