Two hundred volunteers are needed to perform a variety of tasks, including setup, participant registration, food coordination, crowd management and cleanup. Volunteers will work either at Civic Center Park or along the walk route. Times volunteers are needed vary, but are generally between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Volunteers will receive a free breakfast and lunch, plus a T-shirt. For more information and to sign up, those interested are invited to call (303) 692-0011.

Celebrating its 34th anniversary this year, WalkAmerica is the nation’s oldest charitable walking event and the largest annual March of Dimes fundraiser. Funds raised help the March of Dimes work to achieve its mission: improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. A key March of Dimes initiative is fighting prematurity, the leading cause of newborn death in Colorado and nationwide. The March of Dimes works to achieve its mission through research, community services, education and advocacy.

WalkAmerica sponsors include Farmers Insurance Group, The Children’s Hospital, CIGNA, the Denver Business Journal, Discovery Health Channel, Famous Footwear, Frontier Airlines, Kmart, OppenheimerFunds, Papa John’s Pizza and radio stations KOOL 105, Mix 100 and Jammin 92.5.

The March of Dimes is a national nonprofit health organization founded in 1938.  In Colorado, the March of Dimes currently funds $1.5 million in healthy-baby research and programs. For more information, visit the March of Dimes at marchofdimes.com (English) and nacersano.org (Spanish). Information about WalkAmerica is available at walkamerica.org.

For a JPG image of volunteerism at WalkAmerica, please e-mail bherlinger@marchofdimes.com.