Middle school students

• We have volunteer opportunities for students and advisors of all ages.
• Youth can get involved in awareness, fundraising and advocacy.
• Team Youth includes all volunteers from elementary to college.

Hannah Sypniewski is a 7th grader from St. Michael’s Middle School in Virginia.  She has been competitively figure skating for 4 years and absolutely loves heading to the rink so she can practice her competition pieces and learn new tricks on the ice. Hannah loves to skate but also loves spending her time helping the March of Dimes and families suffering from premature birth.

Hannah herself was born prematurely and premature infants often lack the strength needed for activities as strenuous as figure skating. But above all odds Hannah persevered, and her enormous success proves that she is capable and competent in raising awareness for a program her family has been involved in since she was born.

Since the March of Dimes has hit so close to home for Hannah and her family, they decided they wanted to do something special, not only to raise money for the organization, but also to raise awareness about premature birth.

Hannah and her mother, Tammy Torocsik, a newborn intensive care nurse with HCA Hospitals, created a program called Skate4Babies, which is a figure skating exhibition that raises money for the March of Dimes. This program has gone beyond what Hannah and Tammy had originally thought. With the help of Hannah’s teammates and their families, the event ended up flourishing into something extraordinary.

Skate4Babies was held on Sunday, May 31 at the Richmond Ice Zone and featured many talented individuals. Each skater was able to perform a piece of his or her choice. They earned money by finding people to sponsor them; donors who sponsored a skater for $5 or more were entitled to one of the 200 tickets available for the fundraiser. In all, there were 50 skaters who participated and over 300 people who attended the 2-hour event.

Skaters as young as 3 years old performed in this showcase, and Skate4Babies included singles, couples, and teams, all of whom dedicated their performances to someone that was affected by the March of Dimes. The event was sponsored by the Henrico Doctors’ Hospital, the Richmond Ice Zone and the Central Virginia Skating Club. It was also sanctioned by the United States Figure Skating Association (USFSA).

This fundraiser turned out to be a huge success and everyone that was involved worked extra hard and ended up making over $6,000. One thing that made the fundraiser even more special was the fact that seven out of the 35 skaters were preemies themselves, and there were also eight skaters that had a brother, sister or other family member that was born prematurely. Each skater did a magnificent job, and it is amazing that these individuals were able to help the organization that helped them and their families!