Lauren's Story

Greetings from the City of Angels and what a MARVELOUS time we had! My mom and I flew out to Los Angeles from Chicago (where we were invited to my dad’s fraternity convention) on Friday, June 24th for the Healthy Babies, Healthy Futures Gala held at the beautiful Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. This event is a HUGE fundraiser for the March of Dimes and is hosted by one of the largest corporate sponsors for the March of Dimes – Farmer’s Insurance. Ms. Faye McClure, an Executive with Farmer’s Insurance, was the chair of this event and she did an excellent job. This was the 13th year for the event and it raised over $350,000 for the March of Dimes -WOW! We LOVE Farmer’s Insurance and we absolutely LOVE Ms. Faye McClure for planning such a lovely event. She is so nice and I really hope to meet her again one day. THANK YOU MS. FAYE!

At the event, several notable citizens in the Los Angeles community were honored for their outstanding contibutions and my mom and I were among the group. What an awesome honor for us to be a part of such phenomenal event. Our video was shown and my mother spoke (and cried) on stage afterwards and thanked everyone for their support and commitment to the March of Dimes. We got to meet A LOT of celebrities that were really nice and Ms. Garcelle Beauvais and Mr. Hill Harper were the Mistress and Master of Ceremonies for the evening. After the program, a singer named Babyface performed and his brother Kevon performed as well – my mother REALLY enjoyed that! I don’t know the two of them, but my mother is a HUGE fan. We had a great time that night and the next day we flew back to Chicago to rejoin the rest of our family for the remainder of the Alpha Convention.
The Healthy Babies, Healthy Futures event was absolutely amazing and I really appreciate Ms. Faye and Farmer’s Insurance for hosting and inviting my mother and I to attend. There are so many wonderful companies and organizations that support the March of Dimes and it means so much to me that they care about premature and sick babies. Thank you again Ms. Faye, Farmer’s Insurance and the lovely city of Los Angeles! Kisses to you all!

The next few weeks sure are going to be busy for me and my family! First we are going to the Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. 105th Anniversary Convention in the Windy City of Chicago, IL! Me, my mom, my dad and my brother and sister are going to go to see all of our favorite Alphas (Even though they are all my favorite!). It is also the 30th Anniversary of the March of Dimes and Alpha Phi Alpha Inc. working together, so it is going to be a fun time for everyone.

Later in the week on Friday, June 24th me and my mom are going to fly out to Los Angeles to attend the Healthy Babies, Healthy Futures event! It’s going to be a beautiful evening at the Beverly Wilshire hotel, which my mom is excited about. Farmers Insurance is sponsoring this, so I will get to see Ms. Faye McClure again! She was so nice the last time that I met her in Los Angeles that I’m even more excited to go back this time.

On Wednesday, June 29th me and my daddy will go back out to Los Angeles to attend Farmers Be a Hero for Babies Day. My friend Joshua Hoffman who was the March of Dimes National Ambassador last year told me that it is a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to go! I wish I could tell all of the Farmers Insurance employees how thankful I am that they are all my heroes!

I can’t wait to have some fun in all of these great places to start off my summer. See you soon!

Boy does Kmart love me, and boy do I love Kmart. On Wednesday, May 17 my dad and I were invited to a really fun event in Virginia Beach called One SpectaKular Night. Earlier in the afternoon we met with some of the district managers and many of them were top fund raisers this year with their stores. The mid Atlantic region is the top kmart region too, so that means we met some of the best fund raisers around! We got to see Mr.John Pickert from Tennesse again, and met Mr.BJ Hillard who is the top fund raiser in Tennessee.

A little bit later we went to the Harrison Opera House for the event. People and lightbulbs were singing, dancing, having a fashion show and really showing their Kmart team spirit. I got to go on stage and talk to the big crowd and tell them how much I appreciate all of the money they have raised for us. Kmart really shows how much they care about the community and I care about it too! Maybe that’s why we’re such good friends.

Even though it was a quick visit it sure was a “spectakular” visit and I even got to take home a big green stuffed toy named Yoda.

Thank you Kmart!

Greetings once again from our Nation’s Capital! I have been there quite a bit already, and will be visiting a few more times this year, so I will certainly know my way around “The District” as my mother calls it. On Wednesday, May 4th, my parents and I went to D.C. for the 29th Annual U.S. Congressional Gourmet Gala, and it was truly a fabulous event. It was held in the lovely National Building Museum and there was a beautiful water fountain in the middle of the room. My parents and I attended a VIP Reception where we got to meet all of the U.S. Congressmen who were deemed “Celebrity Chefs” for the evening and we even got to meet one of our North Carolina Congressman, (D)-Representative Mel Watt and his elegant wife, Mrs. Eulada Watt. Me and my parents got to take pictures with them and tasted their delicious, yet healthy, spring rolls.
During the remainder of the reception, my parents spoke with other Washington D.C. Notables and guests and I got to walk around and meet people and give them some of my cards. I autographed each and every one of the cards that I gave out and everyone I met said that I have a really pretty signature. I have signed a lot of autographs “while on tour” this year, so I have had a lot of practice! Once the reception was over, everyone went to their dinner tables and our family’s National Ambassador video was played. My mom cried, as usual, and after the video played me, my mommy and my daddy went on stage to make brief remarks and to thank everyone for supporting the March of Dimes.

The Congressional Gourmet Gala raised lot of money for the March of Dimes, $905,000 to be exact, so there will be a lot of research, treatments and programs funded from this one awesome event! We met countless nice and generous people at the Gourmet Gala, and we hope that they will continue to support the March of Dimes because it saves a lot of babies’ lives who were born too early just like me. I can’t wait for my next visit to Washington D.C., in August, when the men of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc., who are also large supporters of the March of Dimes and is my dad’s fraternity, will unvail the Martin Luther King, Jr. Monument. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc. and I am sure that he would be very proud of the work that they do in the community and for the March of Dimes. That will be a wonderful and historic day and one that I will never forget. I am so thankful for all of the people that supported the Congressional Gourmet Gala and I truly appreciate the commitment that those attendees have for the March of Dimes. I LOVE YOU!

Happy 40th Birthday to the Houston March for Babies! This is the largest March for Babies walk in the country and it was a lot of fun. Even though me and my family weren’t feeling well, we really wanted to be a part of this great walk – and we are so glad we did! We got a chance to meet with a tent full of fabulous United Airlines employees and I got to see my friend, Mr. Jeff Smisek, who is the CEO of United Airlines, again.

They are such a wonderful group of people, and they sponsor the National Ambassador Program to boot! Thank you United Airlines for your continued support of the March of Dimes and the National Ambassador Program – My family truly loves you!
After we did a couple of news interviews and spoke to the United Airlines team, we then addressed the huge crowd of walkers! They were all really excited to see me, my mom and my sister, and cheered as we shared our story and got them ready for the walk. After we addressed the crowd, we got to go to the front of the walk with all of the other top sponsors to get the walk started – that was so cool! My mom and I got to hold up the big March for Babies Banner and the Houston March for babies Chair, Mr. Khambrel Marshall who is the Weather Man for Houston’s KPRC, carried my little sister Erin. It was a really fun walk and I’m so glad I got to go to it.

I had such an awesome March for Babies season this year and I have met some really amazing people that truly care about this mission! Since I’ve been the National Ambassador, I’ve gotten to travel to a lot of great places and met a lot of awesome people. Thank you so much to everyone who walked in their local March for Babies all over the country. Your time and commitment to this mission means a lot to me and other babies who were premature and sick like I was. Being a preemie was how my life began, but look at me now. I am a seven year-old that can do any and everything that seven year-olds are supposed to do. It is because of your love and support of the March of Dimes that I can now March for Babies by your side. Kisses!

Howdy – from College Station, TX! That’s how everyone says “Hello” here at Texas A&M. We had so much fun doing the March to the Brazos with the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. The Cadets have to march nine miles from the Texas A&M campus over to the Beef Center (they keep a whole lot of cows there!) and then have lots of fun wrestling each other, racing, and doing sit ups and push ups so that they can move up in rank in the Corps. Afterwards, we all had tasty BBQ from Buppy’s. We got to speak to the Cadets during the awards ceremony and told them how much we appreciate all of the money that they have raised for the March of Dimes. The Corps of Cadets have been supporting the March of Dimes through their March to the Brazos for 35 years and have raised over $2.1 million dollars! This year alone, they raised almost $100,000 dollars, and that is a lot of money raised by college students for sick and premature babies. They are the largest collegiate supporter of the March of Dimes in the country and that is very honorable. We talked to Andrew Howerton and Kyle Whalen, who are some really great Cadets who helped encourage the rest of their Corps to fundraise for the March of Dimes and we took pictures with some of the top fundraising Cadets. They are really great leaders and did an awesome job this year. General Joe Ramirez, who is the Commander for the Corps, also encouraged the Cadets a lot and we want to thank him too! After we talked to the Cadets and finished taking pictures, they had to march back to campus for another nine miles – a total of 18 miles! They must have some really sore feet and bodies after all of that – I definitely don’t think I would be able to walk that far. Thank you Texas A&M Corps of Cadets for helping to save millions of babies – You all are THE BEST!

Greetings from our Nation’s Capital and a HUGE THANK YOU TO UNITED AIRLINES FOR MAKING THIS TRIP POSSIBLE! What fun, what fun, what fun! We have traveled all over the country, thanks to United Airlines, working hard on behalf of the March of Dimes and the Easter Egg Roll was a true reward for that hardwork. United Airlines provided my entire family with tickets to attend the 2011 White House Easter Egg Roll and we had the BEST time. We took lots of pictures, visited different stations and got seeds to start our very own garden like First Lady Obama. I can’t wait to plant my seeds and start my very own garden. We cannot thank United Airlines enough for giving my family the tickets to attend this event. Their generosity, support and commitment to the March of Dimes and the National Ambassador Program means more than they will ever know. They are truly the BEST airline and we thank them again for not only making this awesome trip possible, but for also making sure that we reach all of our March of Dimes destinations safely and on time. Their sponsorship of the National Ambassador Program is second to none and we truly appreciate that dedication. We also give a very special thank you to United’s Amy, Erin, Lynn, Shannon and Kathleen for making this trip extra special for us and for ensuring that my family was well taken care of. You ladies are definitely First Class! I don’t know if I will ever get a chance to go to The White House Easter Egg Roll again, but I will always remember the fun I had on April 25th and United Airlines for making that day possible!

Greetings from the Big Apple – a city so nice, they had to name it twice! We had a fabulous time in New York City. When we got to New York we had a really cool visit planned to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Ms. Colette Hawkins, who works for Alvin Ailey, took us on a grand tour of the entire dance theatre. She even took us to see the office of Artistic Director, Judith Jamison. We also got to see a couple of rehearsals and met a few students and Principal Dancers. My mom has loved the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre since she was a little girl like me, and one day I will too.

The next day we got to be on the Today Show to promote the March of Dimes and March for Babies. Mr. Al Roker came over to our March of Dimes volunteer crowd and my mom got to speak about the March of Dimes and March for Babies and how much Kmart supports the March of Dimes. This was really awesome! We got to meet a lot of nice volunteers for the March of Dimes and Kmart who also have a passion for saving babies like my family does too.

Next we did Babies on Broadway with all of the volunteers. We walked from Times Square (42nd street) all the way to the Macy’s on 34th street. That was a pretty long walk for me and my sister and the other kids, but we did a great job and held the March of Dimes/Kmart banner too. Before the walk, we did a few interviews and took pictures with Katie McGee from CBS 2, Natalie Norris-Howser, who was representing Kmart, and Broadway stars Gregory Jbara, Angel Reed and Kate Shindle. We also got to sign the huge March of Dimes/Kmart Dime! Our last stop for the day, was a trip to Radio City Music Hall to see Madagascar Live! This was my first time seeing a show in New York City, but it definitely won’t be my last. I am so excited to continue to represent the March of Dimes and encourage others to support its mission. Like all of the volunteers, I hope that one day all babies will be born healthy.

A BIG Thank you to the BIG Apple for supporting the March of Dimes – I Love New York!

Greetings from the Windy City! On Sunday, April 17th, my dad and I attended the Chicago March for Babies Lakefront Walk! It was my first walk as the March of Dimes National Ambassador and even though it was chilly we had a lot of fun. It was exciting to see dogs, people and sponsors participate in the walk. It was also fun walking by the lake because it was a beautiful sunny day! We met many walkers from our national sponsors like Bruce from Kmart, Kate and her team from United Airlines, Sue and her team from CIGNA and Troy and his team from Farmers Insurance, and of course we met the wonderful March of Dimes staff from Chicago. We also got to meet the Jensens, the local ambassador family. My dad also met with many of his fraternity brothers, of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., who supported the walk and we had fun taking pictures and talking with them. I enjoyed seeing the city during the entire walk while riding on my dad’s shoulders. Chicago is a really great city and I can’t wait to come back later this year for the Alpha National Convention. I hope you enjoy the photos and keep Marching for Babies!


(Photos © Paul Berg)

(Photo © Paul Berg)

This week I have my Spring Break and I sure am going to have a lot of fun with the March of Dimes during my time off from school. On Tuesday my whole family and I are going to New York City! On Wednesday we have a really fun day because we will be going to the Today Show and then we are going to watch a big dime roll down Time Square for the Kmart Babies on Broadway event. If anyone from New York City is around Time Square I would love for them to come and see that big dime! After that we are going to see Madagascar Live and I am so excited because I love the movie Madagascar!

On Saturday, April 30 we will be going to College Station, TX for the March to the Brazos and then on Sunday, May 1 we will be going to Houston for their March for Babies!

This sure has been a fun April so far, and it looks like it will continue to be fun for the rest of April!