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March of Dimes Georgia Chapter to Award Winner of Annual WalkAmerica Car Give-A-Way
ATLANTA, GA– Since January of this year, thousands of March of Dimes supporters across Georgia have been purchasing tickets for a chance to win a 2006 Beetle VW Convertible. Hurricane Katrina evacuee, Calicia Landry of Atlanta took that chance and is now the proud owner of one of the world’s most recognizable automobiles. On Saturday, June 17, Calicia will come to Jim Ellis of Chamblee to receive her four-wheeled prize.
Calicia and her husband, Gary, were living in New Orleans in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina arrived and forced them to leave their home and flee to Atlanta. In fact, they lost their brand new car to four feet of water! But Georgia’s capital city has proven lucky for the Landrys, as Calicia got her previous position back with Sprint in the Atlanta office and soon after received the wonderful news that she would be a new mom.
During Sprint's annual March of Dimes WalkAmerica campaign, expectant mom Calicia learned of the VW Beetle Convertible raffle supporting the March of Dimes mission of preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality and thought it would be fitting to buy as many tickets as she could. To Calicia’s surprise, on June 1 she received a call from March of Dimes State Director Brian Zeigler and learned she had indeed won the 2006 Beetle VW Convertible.
“Since I am currently 9 months pregnant, the March of Dimes is a wonderful organization that is especially close to my heart right now!. When I bought my tickets, I was just supporting their mission of saving babies. I never dreamed I would actually win…but I am so glad I did!” says Calicia. “When they called me I was at a total loss for words.”
The March of Dimes car give-a-way has been a volunteer favorite for the past ten years. With tickets being sold for $5 each or 6 for $25, the fundraiser brought in an estimated $120,000 for the charity in 2006.
The country’s oldest walking event, and the March of Dimes largest fund-raiser, WalkAmerica supports research and programs that help fight threats to the health of the 470,000 babies in the U.S. who are born too soon every year. Since its beginning 36 years ago, WalkAmerica has raised more than $1 billion to help give babies a fighting chance and takes place on the last weekend in April in nearly 1,500 locations across the nation. WalkAmerica State Sponsors are Delta Air Lines and Publix Super Markets. Special thanks to Jim Ellis VW of Chamblee. For more information about WalkAmerica, contact Monica Sanghavi-Patel at 404-350-9800 ext. 220 or msanghavi-patel@marchofdimes.com.
The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth.
http://www.walkamerica.org/ www.marchofdimes.com/georgia
Media Contact: Brittney Gray, Director of Communications, 404-350-9800 ext. 224 or bgray@marchofdimes.com
*Photos of winner and car available upon request.
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