march for babies blog

January 18th was Martin Luther King Day, the beginning of Youth Service America’s Semester of Service that culminates with Global Youth Service Day, April 23-25. Students all across the world are committing to volunteer during the spring semester in order to positively impact their communities.

This year, make the March of Dimes part of your Semester of Service. In many communities, March for Babies will take place in April around Global Youth Service Day, and participating in this event would be an excellent service opportunity. This month, form a March for Babies team with your peers by signing up online, then follow these steps to make your March for Babies team a fantastic way to serve your community:
*Use the March of Dimes Teen2Teen Health Education Series with your peers or a middle school or high school group. By following the Presenter’s Guide, you will be educating young men and women in your community about the importance of healthy decisions — both for their current well-being and their future families.
*Spend a Saturday providing comfort to families with a baby in the NICU. Host a book drive, decorate the NICU or provide healthy snacks for parents. Contact your local March of Dimes office to see how you can help your local NICU Family Support® site.
*Fundraise to help the March of Dimes support research, advocacy and education, and help give every baby a healthy start.

By making the March of Dimes part of your semester of service, you have the opportunity to educate teens, comfort families and help ensure that babies are born strong and healthy! For more great ideas, check out the Team Youth eNewsletter at marchofdimesyouth.com and share your ideas here in the comments section!

Right before the holidays, many of you participated in a survey where we showed you 6 different banners and asked you for your favorite. We got over 1100 responses and a lot of really wonderful feedback!

The banner that had the highest rating from you, by a clear margin was:


You can click on it to make it bigger. Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete the survey!

We’ve gotten a few calls from people having trouble adding their fundraising badges to their e-mail signature in Outlook 2007.  If you’re experiencing this problem, too, follow the steps below. If you get stuck or cannot get it to work, let us know in the comments or you can always contact the help desk.

1. 1. Create a new “TEXT DOCUMENT” on your desktop (right click on the desktop and go to NEW - TEXT DOCUMENT)
2. 2. Paste the code into the text document that you created, save the file as MFB2010.htm (erase .txt from the file name and replace with .htm)
3. 3. In Outlook, go to Tools > Options and the Mail Format tab.
4. 4. Click the Signatures button.
5. 5. Click the New button.
6. 6. Name your signature ‘MFB2010’
7. 7. Click OK
8. 8. Close Outlook
9. 9. Locate your signature folder by navigating to these folders or go to Start, Run and paste one of the following: for Vista: %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Signatures, for XP: %userprofile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Signatures
10. 10. There will be three files in that folder called ‘MFB2010’ (in three formats: .htm, .txt and .rtf). If you cannot see the file extensions, go to Tools / Folder Options / View and deselect ‘Hide extensions for known file types’, or right-click on the file and select ‘Properties’, that will display the file type in a new window.
11. 11. Replace the .htm file in that folder with the file you created. Make sure that they are named the same.
12. 12. Restart Outlook 2007.

Some companies may restrict access to the Windows folders named above.  Your IT department should be able to tell you for sure.

Did it work?  Still having trouble?  Let us know!

Our fantastic 2010 National Ambassador, Josh Hoffman, took a break from his busy schedule to record a message that will be going out to folks all over the country.  It is a little too important (and precious) not to share.

You can click here to listen or, if you have Quick Time, it will load below.

A big hello to all those folks who are re-registering or walking in March for Babies for the first time!

I just wanted to take a few moments to point out some of the tools we have for you on the March for Babies site.

First, if you are a team captain, of a company team or a family team, we’ve got some new materials for you. Just click on over to the “Company Teams” or “Family Teams” tab and scroll down to the toolbox ¬– download your guide, FAQs, posters, the works.  You can also go to our “Spread the Word” tab to get some banners and fundraising badges for e-mail or your Web site.

And if you ever get stuck or have questions, you can always contact us here.

Happy fundraising!

From Dr. Christopher P. Howson, Vice President for Global Programs at the March of Dimes:

The massive earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has devastated the entire country. As with any disaster, moms and babies are among the most vulnerable.

The March of Dimes is deeply concerned about the thousands of pregnant women and moms caring for infants and children.

The tragedy this week requires a special response. We are providing a grant to UNICEF dedicated to meeting the urgent needs of Haiti’s moms and babies.

You can find out more information or help here

In the spirit of holiday giving, we are hoping you can spare 5 minutes to help us out. Every year, we use online advertisements (banners) to promote our March for Babies event on the Web. This year, our creative department went overboard and produced 6 different banners. We can’t choose, so we’re hoping you can decide for us.

Take the survey and tell us which banner is your favorite. We’ll reveal the winner here in the new year.

The year is not over yet, but we are already getting ready for March for Babies 2010. If you’re curious about when your event is taking place, find out now. You can already sign up, too!

 
If you’re leading a team, or thinking about starting your own team for the first time this year, now is a great time to get organized. Get your mailing list in order and send a holiday e-mail and “save the date” to everyone who walked with you this year. Just activate your account and use the e-mail feature on your team captain dashboard.

 
Before I forget, we have some great new tools for team captains (and for company team captains, too). Download the team captain guide for how-to information you can really use.

 
And add our blog to your reader for lots of news and tips in the coming months. I just know we’re going to have a great March for Babies! Are you excited yet?

Today is Prematurity Awareness Day®, and I really wish I had some happy news to report. We just released the second annual Premature Birth Report Card and America scored a depressing “D.” What that means is that every year, we’re failing more than half a million babies.

Each state received its own report card, by the way, and you can find your state’s grade here. No state earned an “A,” and Vermont was the only state that received a “B.” Even though seven states improved their grade, I’m sure you’ll agree we have a long way to go.

You can help in a big way today by blogging about premature birth. And update your Facebook and Twitter status with this message or a message of your own:

I’m fighting for preemies! Join me at http://bit.ly/1gfWUt #fight4preemies

It’s Prematurity Awareness Month, when everyone’s focused on premature birth and the families touched by it.

In our country alone, more than half a million babies are born too soon each year, some very sick. Maybe you had a premature baby yourself. Or you may know someone who did.

This November, do something special for a baby you love. Click over to marchofdimes.com/fightforpreemies and create a virtual band in honor or memory of a baby in your life. Your gift funds research and programs that give premature babies a fighting chance.

If you have a blog, help us spread the word. Unite with thousands of bloggers around the world and post about premature birth on November 17.