Volunteering 101

Hi, I am new on this board but wanted to find ways of volunteering. I just had a baby, but she was born on time. After having her I heard a lot about premature babies and decided that I wanted to help volunteer my time and find ways of helping them. So far I started collecting old cell phones to donate and also started collecting change to donate. I just started the wrist band fundraiser, but now I am really interested in getting more involved with sending awareness emails, etc... Does anyone have any advice for me? I did contact my local March of Dimes chapter but they have yet to get back to me. Thanks for reading this.
Rikki

Hi Rikki,

Different parts of the country have different volunteer opportunities at different times. This time of year, many places are doing Chef's Auctions or gearing up for a Prematurity Awareness Day event.

Our biggest event is usually the last weekend in April in most area.

If you can tell us where you're from, we can definitely steer you in the right direction.

Welcome and thanks for wanting to help. Every *dime* counts.

-Darcy Milder

Hi Rikki!
It sounds like you have gotten a wonderful start on your volunteer work! Kudos to you! I'm sure you will hear from your local chapter soon. As Darcy mentioned, many chapters are involved with Signature Chef's auction right now as well as planning activities for Prematurity Awareness month next month. I would certainly call back if you haven't heard from them yet.

You mention you would like to get involved via emails and internet. Have you checked out the MoD's homepage? They have a new site called Every baby has a story You could possibly create a page about your precious baby and explain the importance of all babies getting their nine months. You could then e-mail the link to all of your family and friends and they can read more about all the babies across the country with a story to tell.

Keep in mind that this is a brand new site so not a lot of stories are up yet (I haven't even gotten around to adding mine yet ) but I am certain it will fill up fast now that the Story bus tour has started. E-mailing the link to others is a great way to raise awareness to our mission.

Good luck to you and thankyou so much fo volunteering your time to our mission.

Welcome to Share!

Karen

Hello Everyone.
I am thrilled to have found this site. I have yet to tell my story but will be doing so very soon. To make a long story short though, I have been pregnant 4 times. The first ended at 26 weeks in a great loss of a little girl after hours of labor. The second was my now 13 year old daughter who was born at 32 weeks weighing 4lbs 7oz. The third was a full term healthy boy who is now 9 and stuggles with ADHD. The fourth and last was my now 16 month old son who was also born at 32 weeks weighing 4 lbs 1/2oz. I was blessed that my three children (after my loss) were healthy, dispite the fact that two of them were preemie. I owe much gratitude to the neonatal center and the march of dimes. I too have contacted the RI Chapter to find opportunities to volunteer but have not received work yet. I will be persistant though. I love reading all the stories of how you all volunteer and hope that I can one day be able to have lists of ways that I have helped.
I would love to share recent pics that I took with my three blessings. They are blurry because my daughter set the laptop on a setting that appears as though you are looking through water so I apologize for the blurriness. Happy Holidays to you all.

Christina

Hi Everyone.

I just wanted to let you all know that I just got a call from Ed at the RI Chapter of the March of Dimes. I will going in to meet the director at noon on Friday. It turns out that they need a lot of help because there are just four people that run the RI office. I can't wait to get started. I will keep you ladies posted.

Christina

Christina that is great! I am sure you will find volunteering to be a very rewarding experience. Please do keep us posted on the projects you will be working on.

Good luck!

Karen