March for Babies Saturday in Carson

Staff Reports

CARSON CITY - Lace up your shoes for March for Babies, Saturday, May 1 at Mills Park in Carson City.

"We invite the people from the Carson City area to come out on Saturday and support March for Babies," said Dallas Haun, president and CEO of Nevada State Bank, the top sponsor for March for Babies. Haun will be leading the walk Saturday.

"If you would like to get involved, sign up at marchforbabies.org and ask your family, friends and co-workers to donate to your team or you as an individual walker."

Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the 1.5 mile walk will start at 9 a.m. If you have already signed up to be a walker, bring your donations to the walk.

The events will be a celebration of families, friends and co-workers who have raised money to support March of Dimes research in finding causes for premature births so that one day, all babies will be born healthy.

One out of every seven babies born in Nevada is born preterm. Two hundred babies born each year in Nevada will never celebrate their first birthday. Premature babies often experience extended stays in the hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit - sometimes months. Often they face life-long health issues such as blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy and other debilitating ailments.

In addition to Nevada State Bank, sponsors are Farmers Insurance and United Healthcare, along with Kmart, Bank of America, Famous Footwear, Citi, Bank of the West, Save-Mart, KENV New Channel 10 and KBUL-FM.

March for Babies takes place in more than 900 communities across the United State, with more than a million people taking part. More than $2.1 billion has been raised since the first walk in 1970.