Miracle Babies 3rd Annual 5K WalK/Run was held in San Diego this last Sunday and there was just a fantastic turnout. I arrived at 6:30 in the morning to help set up with Ava and her big sister Seyla. There had been a threat of rain, but it turned out to be a glorious San Diego sun shiny day. Team AvaBaby's was there too, with about 20 wearing Team AvaBaby's shirts doing the walk/run and some of us to cheer them on.
Two San Diego news crews showed up to help spread the word about the Miracle Babies Walk with one of our local anchors a preemie mom herself being this years MC. They interviewed our dear friend Sean aka Dr. D and a few others around. One of the people interviewed, a mother of a micro preemie, my daughter Ashley and the mother of both Ava and her little brother Cash, also a preemie born 8 weeks early. Ashley a bit nervous, did great and Ava & Cash were also in the interview just looking cute. So were numerous of our friends, & family as we were all standing around watching Ashley be interviewed. Some of us managed to slip out of view of the camera as it panned around, like me. Others who were in the picture were, Seyla, Ava's big sister, throwing a bottle of water in the air. My daughter in law, Tracy. My other 2 grandson's Aiden and Wyatt. Scott O. who brought his kids to the walk, and my son Dana, trying to slide out of the cameras eye just a little to late. He is like me, a bit camera shy.
As I said, the turn out was wonderful and we are all so proud of what Dr. D is trying to accomplish. He has such a passion for what he does and truly believes that economic pressures while in the NICU should never prevent a parent from spending time with tiny or sick child in the hospital. That is Miracle Babies goal.
Watch the video and you will meet Dr. D and see just how far he has come to make this happen for you and other preemie families across the country.
UPDATE 11/16
Miracle Babies received a whooping $95K in donations as of Monday night with donations still coming in!! There were $17K in expenses, like the canopies, signs, port a potties, tables, kids area, etc. But that still left close to $78K!!!! That is just wonderful, especially since this is really only the 3rd 5K. All of this has happened inside of a little over 2 year period. Can you imagine down the road?
I know there are plans to open chapters in other states. I was introduced to a Dr. who had flown out from Atlanta to see what Dr. D had done with Miracle Babies. He was impressed and excited, and is looking to open a chapter in Atlanta, home of some very big news organizations like CNN.
Miracle Babies has plans for the very near future to expand northward all the way up to the northern part of the state. They have been in touch with other organizations in other countries with hopes of possibly teaming up to take this worldwide. MB also has plans to go to Africa to see what might be done to help out there. So very exciting!
Just think of all of the mom's and dad's who will be able to come to the NICU and be with their children now. Gas cards, bus tickets, places to stay, food and babysitters when needed. You may not realize what a problem this can be. When we were in the NICU and we were able to be there 24/7 there were babies who's parents we never, ever saw. We asked why and were told most could not afford to leave work, or even get there if they could leave work. There was a little girl in a bed right next to Ava who was born full term with some very serious digestive malformations. She was born about 2 weeks after Ava and was still there when Ava went home, so 2.5 months. We saw that baby girl.s family just 1 time. They had to take a long bus ride to get to the hospital. They had other kids at home, could not afford to take time off work, couldn't afford bus tickets as it was and they could not afford clothing for their baby girl as medical bills mounted. It is families like these that Miracle Babies is looking to help. Keep in mind, that was when the economy was good! These kind of situations should not arise, every sick baby in the NICU needs their mommy and daddy with them as much as possible and Miracle Babies wants to make that possible for as many as they can with our help.
Just an FYI: Miracle Babies does not just throw money at people. The donations are meant for those who really need the help. Miracle Babies works with hospital social services to screen applicants all over the country. Also, all work is done my volunteers, lawyers, photographers, fund raisers, people seeking grants, and lots of people doing the paper running and organizing. It really is a wonderful organization, overseen by a wonderful man, Dr. Daneshmand & his lovely wife Marjan.
