(ST. LOUIS, Nov. 9, 2007) – March of Dimes will receive $172,680 Missouri tax credits to offer businesses that fund the organization’s mission of saving babies.
The Neighborhood Assistance Program, under which the credits are awarded, offers not-for-profit organizations opportunities raise private-sector funds to support their mission. March of Dimes could earn up to $345,360 in gifts by offering the 50 percent tax credits to donors.
“These tax credits will give more St. Louis area babies the chance to be born healthy,” said Deborah Kersting, Missouri Executive Director of the March of Dimes. “The funds we will raise from businesses under this program will directly support our programs that help poor women get better access to health care, provide peer advisors to help pregnant teens adopt healthy lifestyles for their babies, and to offer educational services to families of babies in newborn intensive care,” she said.
The St. Louis Division of the March of Dimes served more than 28,000 people last year through its direct education and community service programs. They include teenaged girls who attend programs at the Teen Pregnancy Center at Barnes Jewish Hospital, pregnant women at LaClinica in south St. Louis, and health care providers who learn methods to help patients stop smoking. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of premature birth.
In 2007, March of Dimes began a direct service program, NICU Family Support® in the newborn intensive care unit at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. The program – serving 750 families – helps parents, grandparents, siblings, and other relatives of premature newborns understand the special challenges they face in caring for a sick or low birth weight baby.
Gifts to the March of Dimes for support of these youth, education, and outreach programs will be eligible for the 50 percent Missouri tax credits. For more information, contact Deborah Kersting at 314-646-0266.
The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth 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 reduce the rate of premature birth. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish Web language site at nacersano.org. Missouri’s Web site is marchofdimes.com/Missouri.
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