Welcome to EllwoodCity.org.  The "unofficial" site of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania

07/18/2008 08:54 PM

 

When The Dimes Go Marching In! April 25, 2008 If you have not heard of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, don’t be surprised. It is now formally known as the March of Dimes, a health charity that hopes to improve the health of infants. Ellwood City hosted the annual event on Sunday April 27th, 2008. The walk took place in Ewing Park and participants will meet at the main pavilion. Mr. Richard Basile Sr. is the coordinator of this annual walk and his wife is the coach. When asked what other help he had, he stated “My volunteer fire department, they’re a big help, they’re there every year.” He also said that last year about 175 walkers showed up and they raised over $20,000 dollars. This year they’re pushing themselves for an even higher number, about $25,000. But at this point you’re probably still pondering the question, “Why should I walk?” That is a very simple question. This charity was founded in 1938 to help with the quick spreading disease Poliomyelitis, also known as Polio. This disease was once the most dreaded illness of the twentieth century. During the first half of the twentieth century, this illness had either killed or paralyzed thousands of Americans. After working to eliminate Polio, the March of Dimes became involved in helping infants. During the March of Dimes, recently renamed the March for Babies, there is a selected place for participants to meet and you walk to collect money to find cures for these common and in some cases, uncommon, diseases. A very common infant defect that is occurring is premature birth. Half a million babies are born premature every year. Being born premature can result in many safety hazards and potentially a lot of medication. Having life long defects can also be an effect of premature birth. The survivors of premature birth can continue living with cerebral palsy, mental retardation, chronic lung disease, blindness and even hearing loss. A concern of the March of Dimes is the steady escalation of premature births over the past two decades. Records show that in the year 2005, nearly half a million American babies were born prematurely. Some 12.3 percent of all babies -- 499,008 infants -- were born prematurely (less than 37 weeks gestation) in 2003, according to the report released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). That's up from 12.1 percent (or about 480,000 babies) in 2002 -- and an increase of more than 30 percent since the government began tracking premature births in 1981. The prematurity rate was 9.4 in 1981; it has increased every year since then, except for slight dips in 1992 and 2000. The March of Dimes has done research and found in some cases, premature birth can be prevented. There is a multimillion-dollar research project going on called, “The March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign.” This campaign is designed to educate families on how they can have healthy babies. Some of the funds that are collected from The March of Dimes also go to researching what exactly causes babies to be born prematurely. So next time you toss a dime out side, just remember it can go further than just down the sewer, it can save a life.