Name Kathy Bellew          
Phone 816.561.0175     
Email kbellew@marchofdimes.com   

Karbank March of Dimes Fund to Donate $225,000 Over a Five-Year Period to Help Save
Kansas City’s Babies

Kansas City, Mo, July 2005 — In addition to the more than $76,000 in local program grants and $150,000 in local research grants already distributed by the March of Dimes Greater Kansas Chapter, $225,000 will be distributed over a five-year period through the Karbank March of Dimes Fund.  B.A. Karbank & Co. LLP and Karbank Development Co. is based in Kansas City and was founded in 1950.  Karbank is a real estate brokerage and development company specializing in industrial, office and commercial properties.

The Karbank March of Dimes Fund will benefit two much-needed programs in Kansas City’s fight to save babies. 
1. NICU Family Support – This program is designed to provide education, information, and emotional support for families whose babies are admitted into the St. Luke’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).  The Fund provides $175,000 over five years for the NICU Family Support program.  The program was successfully launched in June of 2005.

2. Children’s Mercy Hospital – As part of its proposed expansion of its intensive care nursery, the hospital plans to increase its number of parent rooms from two to three.  The gift to the Children’s Mercy Hospital will allow parents to stay round-the-clock with their newborn so they can learn how to care for their infant’s special health care needs as they transition to the home.  The Fund donates $25,000 to the Children’s Mercy Hospital expansion.

The remaining $25,000 from the Fund will benefit the March of Dimes’ efforts on behalf of polio survivors.
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 an eight-year campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at http://www.marchofdimes.com/ or its Spanish Web site at http://www.nacersano.org/.

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