March For Babies / March Of Dimes
- West Silver Lake Park Shelter
- 800 West Silver Lake Dr. NE, Rochester, MN 55906 United States
Additional Information
Rochester Community to March for Healthy Babies
March for Babies supports March of Dimes work to give more babies a healthy start.
On April 26 at the West Silver Lake Park Shelter, hundreds of families and business leaders will join together in the March of Dimes annual March for Babies—the nation’s oldest walk fundraiser honoring babies born healthy and those who need help to survive and thrive.
For the Johnson family of Rochester, the cause is very personal. Angela and Ryan Johnson walk in the March for Babies in honor of their daughter Olivia.
Born 11 weeks premature at a La Crosse Hospital she weighed less than three pounds. Angela and Ryan were quickly separated from their daughter. Olivia needed specialized care at the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) in Rochester. Angela was able to hold her baby for the first time the next morning.
“Holding onto such a delicate and tiny life only confirmed that our lives would never be the same,” said Ryan.
Olivia suffered from respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), a common complication from premature birth. Doctors treated her RDS with surfactant therapy, a life-saving therapy March of Dimes grantees helped develop. Today, Olivia is a bubbly 1 ½ year-old. Olivia, Ryan and Angela will be walking in the March for Babies in Rochester on April 26 to share their personal experience and to lend a voice to babies born too soon.
March for Babies, the March of Dimes largest fundraiser, helps fund lifesaving research and educational programs aimed at helping moms have healthy babies. People are encouraged to sign up for March for babies at www.marchforbabies.org and start a team with co-workers, family or friends. Last year, more than 360 people attended the event -- which raised over $80,000.
About the March of Dimes
For more than 75 years, moms and babies have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and breakthroughs. Find out how you can help raise funds to prevent premature birth and birth defects by walking in March for Babies at marchforbabies.org. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.