On August 5, 2010, Elizabeth Anne was born 8 weeks premature. Our family (like most) had no idea we would have a premature baby and we were not prepared for it in any way. We were shocked and scared to death.

Until that day I never really knew what the March of Dimes did. I knew it had something to do with babies and I remember equating it to "get your folic acid!" when I was pregnant, but other than that I didn't have a clue.

The March of Dimes helps the community in many different ways. They support families and provide funding to improve the health of babies. In the past few months we have found that you don't really know what's important until you have a need. Much like the specialized nurses and doctors, you hope you'll never need them but when it's your daughter in the NICU you realize just how important they are.

When things were difficult and we didn't know where to turn it was the March of Dimes website that gave us the information we needed and the hope that got us through. Reading stories of other families who had gone through exactly what we were experiencing is what we needed in those first few weeks and it's what kept us going.

I spent many nights reading the information given to us at the NICU from the March of Dimes and looking for stories similar to ours on the website. It is extremely important to me that we remember give back to this organization who gave us support at such a critical time in our lives. We are forever grateful to the March of Dimes for the information and support we received.

When Elizabeth is older she will ask why we raise money for the March of Dimes every year. I will tell her it's so other little girls can have a chance at a happy & healthy life, just like her.

The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.