He not only knows if you've been bad or good...

he knows how to text! In an effort to increase operational efficiency at the North Pole and spread holiday cheer, Santa Claus has added SMS text messaging to help keep children all over the globe informed of his Christmas progress.

When a parent, grandparent, or other family member registers a child with Textsanta.net, the child will receive three separate, personalized text messages from Santa up to Christmas Eve and even Christmas morning. If the child does not have his/her own cell phone, the messages can be sent to a parent’s phone. The gift costs $4.49 and standard text messaging rates apply. One dollar from every transaction will benefit the March of Dimes.

The child’s data will be protected by data encryption, used only for the one-way contact from Santa as purchased and approved by the adult. Information will then be destroyed immediately by elves in Santa’s shredding department -- no child's personal information will remain on the site.

Santa got the idea for messages to benefit the March of Dimes from T.J. Kirgin, owner of Anchor Communications (An Advertising and Marketing Company) of St. Charles, Missouri, a volunteer for the Missouri chapter of the March of Dimes and the father of twins born prematurely. Help the March of Dimes and make a child smile at Textsanta.net

The early bird gets...

$25!

Farmers Insurance is donating $25 to March for Babies for everyone who registers on-line for March for Babies before December 31st!

You can check out the details here. All you have to do is register on-line, tell all of your friends and family and team members to register on-line, tell everyone you know to register on-line.... and March of Dimes gets gets a $25 donation from Farmers for everyone who registers on-line!!

Get the word out, better hurry though - it ends December 31st!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Cold, flu, and RSV season.

If your family is like mine, winter is a hard time of year for your baby... not only is it too cold to play outside or go for walks in the neighborhood but the germs are raging! The March of Dimes website provies a lot of good information about conception, healthy pregnancy and routine newborn care as well as caring for a sick infant. Having a sick child is stressful enough... but when your child has an illness on top of an underlying medical problem like chronic lung disease it can be very scary and sometimes special precautions are needed.

From the March of Dimes website, you can help protect your baby from RSV by:
*Keeping him away from people who are sneezing or coughing
*Making sure everyone who touches the baby has clean hands *Keeping your baby away from crowds of people
*Not allowing anyone to smoke near your baby

The RSV Protection website also provides lots of good information.

I hope you are all staying healthy and manaing to keep warm!

Prematurity Awareness Day

November 12 was Prematurity Awareness Day! This is the day the March of Dimes released the report card on prematurity.... the nation scored a "D" in regards to the national rate of premature birth. Kansas scored an unexceptable D and scored an embarassing F.

We heard from Dr. Howard Kilbride from Children's MercyDr. John Yeast from St. Luke's Hospital Brian Williams, dad of cutie-pie Savanna Williams, shared his experience about the premature birth of his beautiful daughter, Savanna and how the March of Dimes and the NICU family support program aided them along the way.

As Brian was speaking, Savanna sat with her mom, Nicci, and worked the crowd... it was so inspiring to hear about Savanna's birth circumstances, her struggles - then to see this cutie walking around and being generally adorable. Lisa Butterfield from KU med spoke last then Dr. Howard Kilbride fielded questions. There were also several other mother and child health resources there.

It was a great day - and brought light to an important local and national health problem. Please join the March of Dimes in signing the prematurity petition and telling our government that we care about babies born too soon!

Books-a-million event was Legendary!

November is prematurity awareness month.

That's right - all month! One in EIGHT children (12-13%) of children are born prematurely each year. In Kansas (and those of you on the Missouri side...) those stats hold true. For every seven babies born full-term, one is born before 37 completed weeks gestation. Not only do these children face higher levels of infant mortality but the ones who do make it, many face life-long health concerns or disabilities.

Please join me in signing the Prematurity Petition to help to alert others of this national crsis. Also, please check out and pass on the March of Dimes' prematurity site.

If your family has been touched by prematurity, I encourage you to tell at least one person about it this month. Also - remember that The Legends is promoting the March of Dimes and Prematurity Awareness Month in November. Please join us November 6th at Books-a-Million from 10 a.m. to noon if you are available!

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween.

Kara

Be there or be square

We are having a "family day" at Books-a-Million at The Legends at Village West on Thursday, November 6th from 10 a.m. -11 a.m. to kick off Prematurity Awareness Month. We will have face painting, crafts, stories - it is sure to be a fun time! Please join us if possible, it will be great to see anyone who can make it. The administration at The Legends has expressed that they don't often have much turn out at these events - let's show them how March of Dimes families can band together! Please come if you can and invite your friends and family if they are around. If you are working but Grandma and Grandpa want to bring the kids, that's great. If you're not able to come by your neighbor or friend might think it is fun, that's great, too, please let them know about it! Radio Disney will also be there! Please RSVP to Kara if you are planning on coming so we can have enough craft supplies for the kids.

For the month of November, The Legends will also be displaying March of Dimes prematurity public service announcements on several of their kiosks throughout the complex. If you're out and about, drop by and do your shopping at The Legends and see the cool PSAs!

Save the dates!

As you may or may not know, November is Prematurity Awareness Month and we have a lot of exciting events coming up!

I will post more details as they become available but please mark your calendars for Thursday, November 6th from 10-11 a.m. for an event at The Legends at Village West. This will be a fun, kid-friendly event with entertainment and crafts - look for details to come.

Also - Prematurity Awareness Day is Wednesday, November 12th. We are planning an event at Children's Mercy Hospital where we will announce the national prematurity report card and launch phase 2 of the prematurity campaign. There will be several organizations represented who are working to lower the rate of premature birth in our community and we are hoping it will receive much media coverage. Please plan on attending if possible, details to follow.

Thank you all so much for your continued support. Please, as always, let me know if there is anything I can do for you!

Kara

Click to vote!!

The Squidoo website is giving away $2 for everyone who goes on their site and votes for their charity. March of Dimes is listed and could use your help! Please take a quick second to click on the site and "vote" for March of Dimes. Even if they don't "win" by getting the most votes - they still get money for every single vote registered!

Kara

Video

Check out what one of the featured videos is on YouTube today!

Bikers for Babies - 2008

Well, the rain held off but it was windy and quite chilly! Luckily I was inside the vendor garage at the mission table. :)

This is "Imagine Alley"... these are all of the mission signs from March for Babies intermingled with several "imagine" signs. There were over 6,000 riders who raised over $630,000 to save babies. Amazing!

Getting ready for the opening ceremonies
I ran in to several "babies" I recognized! Allie and Haley, Savanna, Taylor - but Maggie was the only one I happened to have a camera in my hand when I saw her. I also saw Ryan and Amanda volunteering without their "baby" (on her first birthday none the less!) and met several new children and parents who had mission stories. It was so neat to get to talk to so many people!
Ed Hale's Posse
The Heards up on stage
It was another great Bikers for Babies. I'm already excited for next year!

Bikers for Babies

You may not realize it, but the biggest Bikers for Babies event in the entire country is in your own backyard! That's right, folks. Kansas City has bragging rights on this, for sure.Last year nearly 7,000 motorcycle riders came to the Kansas Speedway to raise more than $7,000 for babies like OURS. This event is absoultely amazing. If you've been - you know what I'm talking about. If you have a minute - please leave a comment with your thoughts on the event!If you haven't been - you are definitely missing out. It is one of the most incredible March of Dimes functions I've ever attended. I don't know what it is about all of those motorcycles... if it is the sights, the noise, the sense of community... this is an AWESOME event.
If you are around next weekend - please join us! Bikers for Babies is next Sunday, September 14th at the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, KS. If you are wanting to volunteer, please contact Don Post. There are still many opportunities available - you are needed! If you are wanting to participate, please register on the Bikers for Babies website. Hope to see you there!

Take care,
Kara

The picnic was great!

We had such a great time! The weather was beautiful, the company was awesome and it truly couldn't have been better. Those who were able to come - thanks!! Those who weren't able to make it - we missed you and hope to see you soon!

Kara