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By Rob Davis

Over 500 students laced up their shoes, grabbed their water bottles, and walked in the first annual GatorWalk. What is GatorWalk you ask? According to UF student and GatorWalk founder John Malanchuk, it's a five-mile walk around the University of Florida campus just for UF students and faculty. As event that is similar to WalkAmerica, John wants GatorWalk to become an annual tradition on the campus...and it's well on its way to becoming just that...the first ever GatorWalk raised over $75,000 for babies!

How do you get so many students involved?? John recruited student leaders from all areas of the campus and started meeting with them every week. With the help of the local March of Dimes office, the GatorWalk executive committee, as they came to be called, started advertising the event months in advance. They sent out invitations to local celebrities and government officials to help them in the process...Coach Billy Donovan of the Gator Men's Basketball Team even agreed to tape a public service announcement encouraging students to get involved. To top it all off, Paradigm Properties, a local collegiate apartment company, agreed to help pay for some of the expenses and even donated a rent FREE two bedroom/two bath apartment for one year to the student who raised the most money...the apartment alone was worth over $12,000!!

Not only did the walk raise a lot of money, it also spread the mission of the March of Dimes to many of the 46,000 students at the University of Florida. During the walk, education stations were set up to teach the walkers about folic acid intake and prematurity prevention. Shands Hospital even set up a mock NICU that the walkers could walk through.

It was a lot of hard work, but the pay off was big. John and his team are now planning next year's GatorWalk and they are setting their goals even higher. When asked why he and his team work so hard, his answer is simple, but it also speaks volumes, "We're doing it for the babies...just as they never give up, neither will we."

by Rahul Bansal

On November 16, families, volunteers and celebrities nationwide joined together for a "moment of hope" for premature babies. To increase awareness that premature birth is the #1 health risk for America's newborns, major buildings and landmarks were lit in pink and blue - including Niagara Falls, the Tower of America, the Basketball Hall of Fame, state capitols and banks.

In Washington, D.C., celebrities who appeared live at Freedom Plaza included Laurie Hibberd from the CBS' The Early Show, her husband Michael Gelman, executive producer of Live with Regis and Kelly and Holly Marie Combs, a star from the WB-TV series, Charmed. The celebrities were joined by hundreds of other concerned parents for a rally calling for increased funding for research into premature birth, the leading cause of newborn death.

The Gelmans spoke of their daughter, Misha, who was born prematurely. Doctors told them to prepare for the worst, and their experience in the NICU began at that moment. Today, at 7 months, Misha is a chubby, healthy baby girl and the Gelmans are thrilled. Michael Gelman acknowledged that they are not alone and that nearly half a million people have premature babies each year.

March of Dimes President, Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, concluded by saying, "This is a time to offer hope for families. It is a time to gather across the country to create a pink and blue moment of hope." Then Dr. Louis W. Sullivan, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and current honorary National Prematurity Campaign Chair, as well as children of the March of Dimes ambassador families turned the switch to officially light the John A. Wilson District Building in Washington, D.C., in pink and blue.

Deadline for applications is Feb. 25, 2005.

Deadline for nominations is January 14, 2005.