Students raise funds for babies

Published 5:00 pm Friday, March 22, 2019

Students at the School of Discovery presented a $500 check to Alabama March of Dimes Senior Development Manager Ashley Gorum Friday during a presentation on the history and mission of the organization.

The funds were collected through a variety of efforts orchestrated by the school’s chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), led by School of Discovery teacher Crystal Boykin.

“School of Discovery has a long history with March of Dimes,” Boykin said. “But we have really pumped up the volume over the past few years.”

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Before presenting the check, Boykin introduced Gorum to the students in attendance – she has worked with March of Dimes for the last seven years and previously worked with the American Cancer Society.

In a series of videos and power point presentations, Gorum explained to the students the importance of the organization’s work, especially its current effort to combat per-term births.

In Alabama, 1-in-9 children is born premature.

In Central Alabama, the rate is even worse, with 1-in-7 children being born pre-term.

Nationally, the rate is 1-in-10.

“We’re not doing a good job of helping our moms and babies,” Gorum said.

Gorum also told the students about recent advances at Washington University in St. Louis, where researchers have developed a method of producing 3D renderings of the uteruses of pregnant women, giving them an opportunity to better understand how and when contractions happen and thereby prevent many pre-term pregnancies.

“They have figured out how to notice contractions,” Gorum said. “That’s very exciting.”

Optimally, Gorum said, a pregnancy is supposed to last between 39 and 40 weeks, but many babies are born around 24 months and suffer a variety of problems as a result.

In fact, 50 percent of mothers who “do everything right” are still having premature babies.

“We know a lot of babies are having all sorts of issues,” Gorum said. “If we can figure out why it’s happening, we can find a way to stop it.”

March of Dimes is one of the only health organizations that has successfully achieved its original goal, which was the eradication of polio – scientists were able to develop a vaccine for polio based in part on funds contributed by the March of Dimes.

Over the last 12 years, FBLA chapters in Alabama have raised around half a million dollars for March of Dimes.