The annual March for Babies will take place on Saturday, April 5, at 9 a.m. at Dalton State College.

Formerly known as WalkAmerica, the March for Babies is the March of Dimes’ largest fundraising event of the year and benefits all babies — those born healthy as well as those who need help to survive and thrive. The event has been renamed to make a clear connection to what the March of Dimes is all about, the health of all babies.

The March of Dimes invites residents of the Northwest Georgia 5-Star Region (Whitfield, Murray, Dade, Walker and Catoosa counties) to form teams and participate in the March for Babies. Teams can represent businesses and organizations throughout the area that wish to show their support for promoting healthy babies.

Family teams are made up of friends and family members who want to honor their own children or children they know — babies born prematurely, babies born with a birth defect, babies who did not survive, or babies born perfectly healthy. Family teams help remind everyone of the urgency of the mission of the March of Dimes. More than 12,000 family teams participated nationwide in 2007, raising nearly $11.5 million. Find out more about forming or registering a team at www.marchforbabies.org.

Funds raised by the March of Dimes and through the March for Babies directly impact the health of babies born in our area in a variety of ways, from community education to national research projects. Over the past year, the March of Dimes provided the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) Bedside Reading Program to the nurseries at Hamilton Medical Center in Dalton and Hutcheson Medical Center in Fort Oglethorpe. This program provides reading materials in English and in Spanish to educate parents about premature birth, and provides children’s books for parents to read to their newborn baby in the NICU or to visiting siblings. Grants have also been provided to these hospitals to start smoking cessation programs to assist pregnant women in giving their babies a healthy start in life.

The March for Babies is proud to be sponsored this year by a number of local businesses, including the North Georgia Women’s Center, Textile Rubber, Burtco, Raspberry Row, Hamilton Medical Center and Cherokee Carpets.

For the latest resources and information on the March of Dimes, call or e-mail Michele Beal (706-564-5231; mbeal@marchofdimes.com) or visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.