Kidd Brewer Stadium on the campus of Appalachian State University
will be taken over for the sake of babies on Sunday.
The High Country Area March for Babies will kick off at 3 p.m.
with registration for participants beginning at 2:30 p.m.
Teams consist of family and friends, businesses, organizations
and church groups. The teams gather pledges from the community
to support the walk. It is not per mile, but simply a single amount
for each walker. The walk is 3.1 miles and will take place around
the ASU track. “Spirit Stations” will be set up along
the track to keep walkers refreshed.
An estimated 400 volunteers are expected to participate.
This year’s event will feature a carnival-like atmosphere
with fun for the entire family. The walk is the centerpiece of
the event, but in the center of the field will a buzz with inflatable
games, face painting, clowns, ASU cheerleaders and ASU athletes.
Athletes will be operating sports games, such as a football toss.
Families who are not participating in the walk can come to enjoy
the center field activities for a minimum donation of $20. There
will be free food and refreshments.
A booth will be set up to provide free identification cards for
children, which prove helpful to law enforcement or rescue workers
in the event of an emergency.
The co-chairs of March for Babies 2009 are ASU athletic director
Charlie Cobb and his wife, assistant women’s soccer coach
Lindsay Cobb, and pediatrician dr. Scott St. Clair of Blue Ridge
Pediatrics and his wife, Cameron St. Clair.
ASU Athletics and Blue Ridge Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine
are the major sponsors of the event. Additional sponsors include
Mayhew, Conn, Scheffler & Hardaway Orthodontics; Boone Drug;
Coca-Cola Company; Wal-Mart; Modern Toyota of Boone; Boone Orthopedics;
Watauga Women’s Center; Mast General Store; State Farm Insurance;
Boone Kiwanis; BB&T; Hope Pregnancy Resource Center; and Grandfather
Mountain Country Club.
Organizers hope to raise $50,000 for the March of Dimes.
The March for Babies is a national event, with more than 900 taking
place throughout the United States, District of Columbia and Puerto
Rico. The walks serve as the largest fundraiser for the March
of Dimes national organization.
The March of Dimes is dedicated to the health of babies and mothers
by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
The mission is carried out through research, community services,
education and advocacy at the national level. The organization
focuses on premature births, defects and low birth weights. Parent
education is a vital role in ensuring the health of babies. The
organization also fights for every pregnant woman, newborn and
child to have access to health care and insurance.
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