Half Baked

We just got word that Alexa Stevenson will be at Annie Bloom’s tonight reading from her book Half Baked: The Story of My Nerves, My Newborn, and How We Both Learned to Breathe.

Alexa’s daughter was born 15 weeks early and the book recounts her experience of learning to cope with prematurity.

Alexa and her family were March of Dimes Ambassadors in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Catch the reading tonight at 7:30 pm at Annie Bloom’s if you can!

2009 Bikers for Babies

This Saturday is our 3rd annual Bikers for Babies in Oregon! 

If you ride, you really don’t want to miss it.

41East will be playing classic rock after the ride.  A perfect compliment to the BBQ by Incredible Edibles Catering. 

Been meaning to get a tattoo?  Get inked after the ride by All Prophets Tattoo.  They’ll be judging the tattoo contest while they’re out there, too.

Need another reason to rev up for babies? Here’s why Salem Harley-Davidson is in for the ride:

“This year we want to focus our energy on the Bikers for Babies charity and make it a great success.  All of us here at the dealership know of someone, a family member or friend, whose life has been affected by a baby born with a birth defect or some other health challenge and recognize how difficult it is for a family to cope with it.” ~Clif Fodge

Salem Harley-Davidson is one of 3 starting points for the ride.  You can also join in at Doyles Harley-Davidson in Eugene or Cascade Harley-Davidson in Bend.

Register today!

Cooking for a cause

The event that has been loved by Portland foodies for over 20 years is coming to Eugene for the first time on October 12th.

The 1^st annual Lane County Signature Chef‘s Auction gives you the opportunity to savor the best of Eugene’s restaurants with only one reservation. Among those preparing their signature dishes for a great cause are:

• Nicole Montgomery, Valley River Inn
• Todd Smith, Oregon Electric Station
• Mark Stern, Carte Blanche  
• Scott Whitus, Café Zenon
• Sean Windor, Davis’s  
• and more!

This exclusive evening is co-chaired by:

• Liane Richardson, County Counsel for Lane County, and Mark Richardson, Heritage Construction and Remodeling
• Celeste and Todd Edman, Lunar Logic 

Join us!  Tuesday, October 12th at Valley River Inn.  Reserve your seats today on the Greater Oregon March of Dimes website.

Be A Hero For Babies Day on the Today Show

In case you didn’t know it, July 22nd was Be A Hero For Babies Day. It’s a special day when Farmers Insurance agents across Oregon and the nation put all their attention on raising money to help all babies be born healthy. 

489 Oregon agents raised $67,000 on Be A Hero For Babies Day.  When you add that to money raised so far in 2010 by Farmers employees in Oregon, Farmers Insurance has raised a whopping $105,000 to improve the health of babies. WOW. 

Tally up what Farmers did on Be A Hero For Babies Day in the other 49 states and this year, Farmers Insurance raised $2.65 million nation-wide just on that one day. WOW squared. 

Thanks, Farmers!  You guys really are Heroes for babies!

Our chapter earned this award by:

• Having an over the top year in revenue for March for Babies. With a year-over-year increase of 13% we exceeded our budget.
• Executing a strong community grants program and maintaining a strong collaboration with OHSU’s Heart Research Center and the Barker Foundation to promote nutrition in the womb.
• Assisting in the passage of smoking cessation and expanded newborn screening legislation.
•  Having one or more feature stories run in a media market each quarter of the year and securing public service announcement placement creating additional awareness of our mission. 

We also won one of nine national Program Awards due to the successful outcome of our community grants awarded in the area of smoking cessation for pregnant women.

Yay for us! Yay for babies! And yay for YOU! Without you we couldn’t do what we do. Thank YOU for a stellar 2009!

Superhero

In a time when a large amount of the financial news is about loss, one thing that’s shown an increase is how much Eastern Oregon Superheroes raised to help every baby be born healthy. On July 14^th and 15^th Pendleton’s and Hermiston’s leading citizens came together once again for the annual March of Dimes Jail and Bail, and this year they collectively raised 35% more than last year.

More people raised more money this year; and that’s not easy to do.

In Pendleton
On July 14^th the people of Pendleton raised $7,256 at the Superhero Jail and Bail, which is 32% more than in 2009. Jim Schlenker was the top Superhero raising $1,000 or more; and three others raised over $400 each: Ellen Johnson, Barbara Wright and Sandy Lavelle.

In Hermiston
On July 15^th the people of Hermiston raised $14,781 at their Superhero Jail and Bail. That’s 38% more than last year. The top Superhero in Hermiston was Chris Carter who, with the matching gift from U.S. Cellular, will raise nearly $1,000. Ten others raised over $500 each: Ray Kopacz, Patrick Hart, Josh Lankford, Joe Hodge, Steve Ferraro, Sandy Hinds, Tom Shimp, Rich Schmidt, Reta Larson, and Ilene Curtis.

The money raised from both events will support life-saving research and education funded by March of Dimes to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

2009 Bikers for Babies

The 2010 Bikers for Babies is almost here!  

On Saturday, August 21st die-hard bikers and weekend warriors from across Oregon will ride together to raise urgently needed funds to help every baby be born healthy in the 3^rd annual Oregon Bikers for Babies.

Approximately 300 bikers will be hitting the road from Doyle’s Harley-Davidson in Eugene, Salem Harley-Davidson in Salem and Cascade Harley-Davidson in Bend and coming together at HooDoo for a BBQ, live music and more.

A big THANK YOU to the three Harley-Davidson dealerships and Kendall Subaru for making this event possible through their sponsorship!! 

Thanks to the support of generous bikers, this event raised over $54,000 in its first two years to fund local community projects, innovative research, education and advocacy in the quest to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Got a bike? Join the ride!

Slow Pitch Softball Tournament

Do you run or play softball?

 You can do both and benefit the babies!  On Saturday, September 18th at the Hillsboro Sports Complex in Hillsboro, Oregon. This event is sponsored by Farmers Insurance and all proceeds benefit the March of Dimes. So sign up today. Gather your friends and family and come on out!

 Early registration is due by July 30th and final registration is due by August 20th. 

To register for either event click here: FarmersCharity5k.com 

For information contact:

• Marty Burdick at 503-372-2034
• Janessa Brindza at 503-372-2046
• Steve Redding t 503-372-2013

Help March of Dimes save babies. And play ball or run!

Discovery Health NICU

Tune in this Thursday for the world premier of Discovery Health’s new TV series, NICU.

Pregnant Bellies

Reducing the rate of preterm birth is one of our top priorities at March of Dimes.  Everything we do reflects that.

This May, our Greater Oregon Chapter awarded $69,500 in community grants–all with a single mission: prematurity prevention.  The grants, all focused on the Centering Pregnancy group model of care, are in effect for one year.

Centering Pregnancy is an emerging model of interactive, group care which has been shown to significantly reduce the rate of preterm birth among participants.  In fact, a study published in 2007 by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that group prenatal care reduced preterm birth rates by 33% among participants and showed as much as a 60% reduction in African-American women, who are at greater risk of preterm birth.

The $69,500 of grant awards will be split between four organizations to support the Centering Pregnancy model of prenatal care:

• Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene
• Emanuel Medical Center Foundation in Portland
• Salem Hospital Foundation in Salem
• Salem Nurse Midwives, Inc. in Salem