March for Babies raises $90,000

More than 600 people — including 68 family teams and 57 corporate teams — raised $90,000 for the March of Dimes Clark County March for Babies Saturday.

“Thanks to everyone who came out in support of babies. Together we’ve raised $90,000 in Clark County and $1.1 million in Oregon and Southwest Washington so that one day all babies will be born healthy,” said Julie Burnett, 2010 State March for Babies chairwoman and CEO of Liberty Northwest, in a release. “We’ve made a difference in the lives of children and their families here and across America. And that’s something we can feel really good about.”

Premature birth is the most urgent infant health problem in the U.S. today, affecting more than 500,000 babies each year, according to the release.

National sponsors for 2010 are Kmart, Farmers Insurance Group, Cigna, Continental Airlines, Famous Footwear, FedEx, Sanofi Pasteur, First Response, and Mission Pharmacal.

Clark County March for Babies sponsors are Liberty Northwest Insurance, PacificSource Health Plans, Key Bank, Pacific Power, First Tech Credit Union, First Independent, Southwest Washington Medical Center, YourBabyYourWay.com, Vancouver Family Magazine, Corwin Beverage, Landerholm Law, UNFI, AHP, US Bank, Columbia Sportswear, Bi-Mart and Big 5.

March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. Through chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies, March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.