March for Babies

I have had 5 different blog posts swirling around my head this morning but I found this one the most appropriate since the March for Babies event is this Sunday in Baltimore!



The March of Dimes is a cause I am very passionate about. Saving babies! It seems like a no-brainer that it is a worthwhile cause to support. My baby was born healthy and I had a very uneventful pregnancy. So many other babies are not that lucky. Families are plagued by loss, illness, and birth defects. Babies around the country and around the world fight for their lives everyday in the NICU. The very thought of losing a child or not knowing if my child is going to survive breaks my heart.



Deep down I am a huge philanthropist. I would love to change the world. I try to see the good in everything, volunteer when I can, support worthy causes, say please and thank you, and build people up. I am not perfect but when kindness has left the world it seems like a very dark place. I should not get annoyed at the people who door ding your car in front of you and don't say sorry, or don't say thank you when you hold the door for them, or don't say excuse me when they bump into you. I am not talking about children here because mine often forget their manners, I am talking about grown adults whose parents should have taught them better. It honestly makes me quite sad. Making the world a better place has to start with the individual and I hope I am successfully instilling the values in my children that it is better to give than to receive, to be thankful for what they have, to lend a hand to those in need, and to use their manners.



I started out walking for the March for Babies (then WalkAmerica) back in 2003. Over the years I moved into a leadership role and I am proud to say while working at a company of 2000+ employees in over 150 locations I was able to increase our walker team to 100+ walkers and increase our annual donations from $17,000 to $27,000. I was also involved in annually securing the $10,000 corporate donation from our company. I loved being able to motivate and recruit participants and to effect change.



As my life has taken me down a different path, away from that corporation, I still have faithfully raised funds, walked, and recruited walkers. I am proud to say that my (almost) 9 year old baby boy will be walking with me for the first time this year. This child has been excited about the March of Dimes and their mission and has been asking me to participate as a walker for at least the past 3 years. Up until this point I was not sure he was old enough to manage the 5 mile walk. Now in Baltimore the walk is only 4 miles and at this age he can ride his bike 10 miles so I am convinced he will do wonderfully. I am so proud of him for taking the initiative and being a champion for the March of Dimes. He is on his way to reaching his goal of raising $500 and so am I.



If you are not already involved with the March of Dimes, I urge you to check out their website and learn more about what they do. Please consider donating to me or B as we support this worthy cause. Secure donations can be made online from our personal pages at the March for Babies sites below:

www.marchforbabies.org/brennbug (my personal page)

www.marchforbabies.org/brennan85926 (B's personal page)

Thank you for your support!