Step One

Have you registered for the march???

If not, go HERE now and sign up!!

Okay, so now you are signed up. It's time to take a few minutes and update your

individual profile page and your team profile page (if you are the team captain).

Remember, these pages are where you will be directing the majority of

potential donors. Here and now is the place to get personal, open up,

share your story.

Why are you behind this cause? Why are you walking for babies?

What is YOUR story?

Unfortunately not all of our stories have a happy ending.

Not all of us have pictures to share of babies who beat the odds.

But you have a story...

You may be walking for a friend, sister, co-worker or all five of your healthy

babies who were born full-term.

You may walk because Utah in the spring is beautiful ~ and why not

help an amazing organization.

Regardless of your reason for walking YOU have a reason

and by sharing your story will commit you even more to our cause ~ your cause!

While you updating your page make sure to update your fundraising goals.

How do you pick a goal?

You can use a birth weight - 2 lbs 7 ounces would make for a great $2,700.

Three nieces and nephews? $300.

$10. for every day of 14 days in the NICU - $140.

$5,000. - because you're ambitious like that.

Get creative and pick a goal!

So, you've registered. Updated all of your information and determined a fundraising goal.

For now you're set. And coming up is how to

SPREAD THE WORD!

(in really fun, easy ways!)

...stay tuned

Team Spotlight: Jonah Baby

Leading up to our March for Babies event on May 15, 2010 we will be doing "Team Spotlights". These spotlights will show pictures and stories from participants of past walks. We hope these spotlights will help get you geared up for our event, learn some tips and ideas, get inspired by their stories and also get to know some of the other teams. So if you happen to see someone from our spotlights please say "hi" if you run into them at a rally (details to come) or the event on May 15!

Also, if you and your team would like to be featured please email us and let us know!

What is your team name? Jonah Baby

How many years have you participated in March for Babies? Two years

Approximately how many team members have you had? Five

What was your reason for first participating in the march?

We participated because of our 28-weeker who is now 2 1/2. We also had a stillborn baby at 24 weeks. Both of these experiences drew us to the March for Babies.

What is your best memory of a march?

The walks are so much fun for my kids, the activities are very well done. We love seeing all of the other teams and posters of children.

Did you fundraise for your team? Any tips or advice for fundraising?

We did not fundraise very well, next year we will know better how to do it.

How have you felt after participating?

Such a good feeling doing something like this for a great cause. It brings people together who have had similar circumstances.

Any advice or comments for other family teams?

Get as many people involved as you can!

It is so fun to see the big family teams and know they are together for the same cause. It is especially touching to see shirts or other ways of pulling the family teams together.

Team Jonah Baby

Submitted by team captain Melanie

Help for Haiti

I'm sure all of you have seen the awful devastation in Haiti caused by the earthquake on January 12. The March of Dimes issued a press release on Friday January 15 with details of a special gift of $100,000. to UNICEF to help aid pregnant women and infants in Haiti. Please read to the attached statement http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/49267_62824.asp

The March of Dimes has set up a way for you to help immediately. You can text the word: BABY to 20222 and your phone will be charged $5.00 for a donation to the March of Dimes. These donations will be directed to the thousands of pregnant women and infants impacted by this devastating event.

Time to Register

If you haven't already, please register for the 2010 Salt Lake March for Babies! We have about four months until the walk and the very first step in participating is registration. Please go to http://www.marchforbabies.org and if you have participated before and have an existing team click on LOG IN HERE (about the middle of the page). Login using your user name and password - if you have forgotten either of these please have them emailed to you from MOD. Using your existing information from years past will make things easier for everyone. Once you have logged in you can register for this year's walk, make yourself the Team Captain and have other people join your team. If you have any questions on registering please email us or contact support at the login page.

Once you have registered this is a great time to update your March for Babies team page and individual page. These pages should have updated information for this years walk - maybe update with a picture from a previous walk, new motivation for walking again, a story behind your goal amount. This is your opportunity to let people know why you are participating and why the march is important to you.

So take a little time and register this week, think about your fundraising goals and update your page. Your participation in the march is what makes the event successful!