Lobby Day in Topeka, March 12 2009

First, we had a great luncheon with several of our Kansas legislators! It was great to get to talk to some of these officials one-on-one!Then, we all headed over to the Kansas State Capitol Building to deliver information to the rest of our senators and representatives who weren't able to make the luncheon. If you've never been lobbying before - it is an AWESOME experience. I would encourage you if you ever have a chance in the future to take part in a local or national lobby day.

Okay - so probably took too many pictures of the actual capitol building - but it is so gorgeous!!
Before we left, we got to visit the actual senate session.Here we are waiting for it to start.After they called the senate to order, they recognized the March of Dimes in attendance!
Very fun day! More than that, it feels so good to know that we had small small part in the process of getting the March of Dimes' mission brought to light with our state representatives.

Free Tax Preparation

Liberty Tax is one of the March of Dimes' dedicated national sponsors. They are committed to working with the March of Dimes to ensure that ALL babies are one day born healthy.

On March 27th, Liberty Tax will host it’s much advertised, Tax Free Preparation Day. Customers who make an in-office donation of $50 or more to March of Dimes will have their taxes prepared free of charge at participating locations!!

Fifty dollars is a deal to get your taxes prepared anyway - and it's going to a good cause!!

WOW!!

Oh my goodness, big kudos to ABC and Extreme Makeover Home Edition - last night's episode ROCKED!! Like I said last week, I almost always love this show... but this one, for obvious reasons, was especially a "must see" for me!

The family is absolutely amazing, attention was brought to the issues of prematurity and infant loss and I can't believe how much they mentioned the March of Dimes!!

I hope you all saw it - would love to hear your reactions!

Happy Monday,
Kara

Extreme Home Makeover THIS Sunday!

I love this show to begin with, but I will be sure to catch it this week! On Sunday, March 1st the Emmy Award winning ABC-TV program Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, will build a new home for March of Dimes volunteers, the Augustin Family of Keller, Texas. The family was selected because Amber and Peter Augustin’s son, Lane, was born extremely premature in 2004. They are dedicated to volunteering for the March of Dimes and helping other families with premature babies. Hundreds of March of Dimes volunteers and staff helped demolish and rebuild the Augustins’ home. Fort Worth expects to have 1500 people watching the broadcast together and this will act as a kickoff/sign-up event for March for Babies.

I'd love to hear what you think about it after the show... I'm anxious to see it!

CHIP

You may have alread heard but the CHIP, Children's Health Insurance Program, was signed into law by the president last week. This is a HUGE win for March of Dimes supporters and anyone who believes in babies being born healthy!

Here is what Dr. Howse, President of the March of Dimes, had to say about this awesome accomplishment....

I am pleased to announce that the reauthorization of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was signed into law on Wednesday. This critical legislation includes key provisions the March of Dimes has championed since 2007:

*Maintains coverage for those children currently enrolled and give states the resources to cover an additional 4.1 million uninsured children which means 11 million children will have access to coverage.
*Gives states a new option to cover pregnant women who meet the program’s income guidelines.
*Contains a robust pediatric quality initiative to fund the development and dissemination of pediatric quality measures for use by the states. This will help ensure that children receive not only health coverage, but high quality care.

Congratulations and thank you to everyone who has played a role in this accomplishment.

T-shirts

I have already been getting several requests for information on t-shirts. Here's the low-down...

EA Graphics is the official t-shirt supplier for March for Babies. This year, in addition to the regular Family Team Merchandise, they have also added templates where the t-shirts can be even more personalized.

Some teams choose to make their own t-shirts by making iron-ons or by ordering them either locally or on-line through various printing suppliers. Yes you are able to use the March for Babies logo on your shirts! This logo can be downloaded by clicking the "Spread the Word" button under the "Keys to Fundraising Success" heading on your personal March for Babies page.

Free coffee!

Starbucks is giving away free coffee - and what's better than free stuff??

All you have to do is pledge to volunteer five hours in your community (we always need March for Babies volunteers!!), go to a participating Starbucks and they will give you a free tall coffee. Better hurry - this ends January 25th!