MasterCard Worldwide has made a wonderful — and very timely — offer to the March of Dimes. They will match every gift* made before December 31 with a MasterCard^® card.

When you make your donation with a MasterCard card, your donation of $25 will become $50 when it is matched; your gift of $50 becomes $100. Anything you can give today will be worth twice as much.

This opportunity could not have come at a better time for moms and babies. According to a new report, an estimated 13 million babies worldwide — or 1 in 10 — are born prematurely every year. And North America has one of the highest rates of premature birth.

This Matching Gift will help us take action now to prevent premature birth, and help give every baby a chance to grow up strong and healthy.

By making a gift today, you will help the March of Dimes receive up to $225,000 in additional funds — money that will go a long way toward supporting moms and babies who need our help.

I hope you will be as generous as you can.



Dr. Jennifer L. Howse
President

We were mentioned in the Daily Sun! Wa hoo. In case you missed it check it out:

http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/04/24/news/local/20090424_local_195122.txt?rating=true

Thanks again for all the great work you guys did at the March for Babies!!

A HUGE THANK YOU!!!! To all the moms & dads that raised money for the March of Dimes and came out to walk on what I hear was a cold, blustery Saturday morning. You are all AMAZING and as a team we raised $1,030. Almost $150 OVER our team goal. CONGRATS!!!!! All of your hard work will help babies & their families all over the country. You ladies are amazing!

And Stroller Strides mamas- you guys RULE for giving a fantastic warm up for the crowd- and I hear the husbands did a pretty good job of helping to get the crowd involved.... :)

In the car today I heard this story on NPR. Click to read or listen to the story.
A general summary-
Doctors see a rise in birth defects in babies conceived during Spring planting season. Why? Most conventional farms in the U.S use chemicals once their crops start to grow- some of which are banned in Europe, but still allowed here. These chemical pesticides eventually run-off into our surface waters and the USGS has found that between April & July there tends to be higher pesticides in our water. Fetal exposure to these pesticides is linked to male genital problems and may be linked to things like Spine Abifida, Cleft palate & Down Syndrome.

Now, I'm not mentioning this to scare anyone.. Well, maybe I am a little bit. As mothers we have POWER, we don't use it a lot of the time- but think about it. If all the mothers in the U.S got angry & told someone about it- how quickly do you think things could change? While we are working on that- think about what you put into your body & your child's body. Take control on the local level first.
And until we can change things... Help raise money for the March of Dimes, who helps families effected by some of these issues. Join us at the March for Babies this Sat 4/25 @ Buffalo Park. Can't be at the race? Sponsor one of our walkers!