Students partner with March of Dimes
Service partners Circle K International and March of Dimes teamed up at the University of Indianapolis to celebrate National Prematurity Awareness Day on Wednesday, Nov. 17.
The event included a table inside Schwitzer Student Center where Circle K and March of Dimes members shared information about premature birth and passed out purple bracelets. Everyone was encouraged to wear purple on this day to help spread awareness. Also, there was an area where “March of Dimes” was spelled out in double-sided tape. Students were encouraged to stick any spare change they had with them to the tape.
“March of Dimes is a great organization,” said UIndy Circle K President Michelle Burke. “UIndy students should participate because they have the potential to largely impact this world and the more awareness they have, the bigger impact they can make.”
UIndy Circle K Vice President of Service Saisha Rairdon explained that the mission of the March of Dimes is to research the causes of premature births.
According to the March of Dimes Web site, one in every eight babies is born prematurely each year, and prematurity is the leading killer of America’s newborns.
“Many college students will be entering the parenting stage in a few years, so it is important for them to realize the risk factors leading to premature birth,” Rairdon said.
According to Burke, UIndy provided a means of sharing the knowledge of what can be done to prevent premature birth. Even though students might not be pregnant now, what they do now could affect the health of their babies in the future.
“I think any event is successful even if you only reach out to one person. It is one person who might not have known about it prior, and that is what is important,” Burke said. “In my opinion the event was successful. We shared knowledge and tried to raise awareness about the event.”
Junior education major Megan Grassly said she is excited the event was held.
“I was a premature baby so I’m glad to see that UIndy is doing something to help spread awareness,” Grassly said. “This really is a lot more common than people think. So the more we know, the more we can do to prevent it.”
According to Burke, the goal of this event was to raise $50. Although Circle K did not reach this goal, they felt as if it was still very successful.
