20,000 Southern Californians celebrate March of Dimes WalkAmerica.LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 29, 1996--Almost 20,000 people in Southern California united in the 26th Annual March of Dimes
WalkAmerica, the largest and most successful walking event in the nation was held at 17 Southern California locations this weekend and raised an estimated record $1.7 million to prevent birth defects birth defects, abnormalities in physical or mental structure or function that are present at birth. They range from minor to seriously deforming or life-threatening. A major defect of some type occurs in approximately 3% of all births. and infant deaths. Conni Marie Brazelton (ER), Mary Hart (Entertainment Tonight), Los Angeles Laker Girls, Miss Florida Citrus, CCH CCH Colegio de Ciencias y Humanidades (Spanish) CCH Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist CCH Cook County Hospital CCH Certified in Classical Homeopathy CCH Country Club Hills (Fairfax City, VA, USA) Pounder (ER) and Michele Ruiz joined together with 6-year-old Marissa Shaevel, March of Dimes National Youth Ambassador, and major corporate sponsors to kick off the event. A special March of Dimes ``preemie stars'' team made up of children and adults who were born prematurely and are healthy today due to the research efforts of the March of Dimes led the walk. Marissa was born 3 months premature weighing only 2 lbs., 5 oz. The worst of all her problems was a blockage that required her kidney to be grown on the outside of her body until it was corrected by six surgeries over two years. ``Many of the techniques in the NICU NICU abbr. neonatal intensive-care unit unit that kept Marissa alive were pioneered by the March of Dimes,'' said Gail Shaevel, Marissa's mother. ``We are involved with the March of Dimes because nobody is doing more for mothers and babies than the March of Dimes and we want to help other families.'' ``One out of very 14 babies is born with a birth defect birth defect Genetic or trauma-induced abnormality present at birth. A more restrictive term than congenital disorder, it covers abnormalities that arise during the formation of an embryo's organs and tissues and does not include those caused by diseases (e.g. and many of these birth defects are preventable,'' said Leslie Margolin, president of Cigna HealthCare of California and WalkAmerica chairman for the March of Dimes in Southern California. ``The money raised in WalkAmerica will help fund prenatal education for pregnant women to prevent birth defects and support research to save babies' lives.'' A unique segment of WalkAmerica is TeamWalk in which companies show they care about America's mothers and babies by forming a team in WalkAmerica. Southern California's largest teams included the following: Farmers Insurance Group, the city of Los Angeles
DEd, Doctor of Education doctor's degree, doctorate - one of the highest earned academic degrees conferred by a university ), Mervyn's of California, Kaiser Permanente, Kmart and the Department of Motor Vehicles In the United States of America, Department of Motor Vehicles (or DMV) is a commonly used name of the government agency of a U.S. state which administers the registration of automobiles (e.g., by issuing license plates), and/or the licensing of drivers (e.g. . More than 1 million WalkAmerica participants from 1,400 communities nationwide raised a record $67 million for the March of Dimes Campaign for Healthier Babies. No single event in America unifies so many people for a single cause. The March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality (hardware) infant mortality - It is common lore among hackers (and in the electronics industry at large) that the chances of sudden hardware failure drop off exponentially with a machine's time since first use (that is, until the relatively distant time at which enough mechanical . Through its Campaign for Healthier Babies, the March of Dimes funds research, education, advocacy and community services. -0- NOTE TO EDITORS: B-roll and photos available upon request. CONTACT: March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, Burbank, Calif. Shelley Hutsler, 818/972-9449 |
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