Grand Rapids March for Babies 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT, Patty Osborn
(616) 247-6861
Grand Rapids brings out marchers of all ages
Nearly a thousand registered walkers fight for babies, including Mary Ellen Murphy, Todd Chance and Scrubbs in the Morning; Dr. Leonard Radecki; Mighty Joe Stankowski; and special guest – Maranda, and raise $225,000 to help babies be born healthy.
(Grand Rapids, MI, April 24, 2010) – Local residents joined together in support of the smallest citizens of Grand Rapids—babies—by participating in March for Babies to benefit the March of Dimes. 500 people actually braved the drizzling rain on Saturday and the event was packed with strollers, families and teams. “I am proud that Grand Rapids residents joined together to support the health of all babies,” said Ginger Feldman, March of Dimes Division Director. “The efforts made and money raised by our volunteers this year will help the March of Dimes achieve its goal of $225,000 ensuring that every baby has a healthy start in life that much sooner.”
Special guests at the day’s events included Grand Rapids Division Board Chair, Mike Mraz, March for Babies Chair, Becky Berrevoets from Farmers and Ambassador Family, April & Ryan Hamm,, the 2010 Grand Rapids Ambassador Family. Emcees for the event were Mary Ellen Murphy, Todd Chance and Scrubbs in the Morning. Warm up was provided by Mighty Joe Stankowski and Christina DeVos, 2010 Miss Black Michigan, and a special appearance by Maranda who lead the countdown to start the walk.
‘We’ve seen today how important it is to help our babies,” said 2010 March for Babies Chair Becky Berrevoets from Farmers. “This has been an incredible event, and I’m so proud to be from a community where people can come together for such a great cause. Helping our babies should be a top priority, and we should be excited about what we’ve accomplished here today.”
“It was a memorable and rewarding day for all of us,” said April Hamm, who served as the 2010 Grand Rapids Ambassador Mom. “We held our daughter for the last time on June 2, 2009. She passed away peacefully in my arms surrounded by her daddy, close family, and the doctors and nurses that we came to love. Ashlynn will forever be remembered as an inspiration to many and the most perfect, beautiful daughter that I could have ever asked for. Without the March of Dimes we would not have had 6 ½ amazing months with our daughter.” April was presented with a check for her March for Babies team from Ken Graham.
Money raised from the event funds research, awareness, education and local community grants for programs such as prenatal education programs for doctors and nurses at Holland Community Hospital and the March of Dimes Family Support Specialist Program at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.
The most urgent infant health problem in the U.S. today is premature birth. It affects more than half a million babies each year, with the number growing every day. The March of Dimes issued a Report Card on Premature Birth, giving the nation a D and Michigan a D. Babies born too soon are more likely to die or have disabilities. The March of Dimes is committed to reducing this toll by funding research to find the answers to premature birth and providing comfort and information to families who are affected.
2010 national March for Babies sponsors are Kmart, the March of Dimes’ No. 1 corporate supporter, CIGNA, Famous Footwear, Farmers, FedEx and Mission Pharmacal. Statewide March for Babies is sponsored by Farmers, Flagstar Bank, Coca Cola Enterprises and AT & T Yellow Pages. In Grand Rapids, March for Babies is sponsored locally by Mission Sponsor – Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Spectrum Health; Silver Sponsor – Dematic Corporation; Bronze Sponsor – Farmers Insurance; Start Line Sponsor- Flagstar; Family Fun Sponsor- AT & T Yellowpages; Registration Sponsor – Mill Steel Company; Radio Sponsors – Thunder 94.5 New Country, Hot FM 105.3 and 96.9 WLAV; Print Sponsor- Grand Rapids Business Journal; Food Sponsor- FedEx; Tent Sponsor – B-N-T Tents; Checkpoint Sponsors –FedEx, Independent Bank, Spectrum Health, Kreis Law, and Farmer’s.
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies, the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.
- XXX -
Who Are You? (alt. title: “I’m Baaa-aaack”)
Jeezh! Time flies, huh? It’s been awhile since my last post. Over a month, in fact. No, not a case of blogger’s-block or anything life threatening (other than a near fall from the wrong end of a tall ladder, but that’s another story).
I’ve just been caught up in biz, travels, etc. I guess what they say is true: Life happens – even to the best of us.
(I don’t know if ‘they’ really ever said that… as far as I’m aware, I just made it up.)
Anyway, for the past several weeks, I thought about doing some ‘best of the cup’ posts, but that just seemed cheap and tacky. Not to say that I’m NOT cheap and tacky, but if you want to see any of my old posts (you know you do), it’s easy enough to navigate your way around this blog.
But there is something I want to know about my regular readers… Are you a ‘fitness enthusiast’? Somehow tied into the fitness industry? Or just a misguided soul who gets an inexplicable sense of enjoyment from reading my words on paper…uhm… I mean a computer monitor?
Oh, and even though I haven’t been doing a whole lotta blogging, per se, I have been active in other “social media”: adding vids to my youtube channel, facebooking, tweeting, linked in-ing and the like.
So if you’ve suffered through the last month wondering when you’d get your next Joe-fix, have no fear my little friend. In the immortal words of ZZ Top, “I’m bad. I’m nationwide.” Any way you look, I’ll be there. (well except for here. But you know what I mean…)
Random Facts about Joe Stankowski – Part I
I make it a habit to politely ignore productivity-killing MySpace surveys, Facebook ‘app’ invites and email chain letters (“send this post to 7 people and you’ll have the best workout of your life today”), but somehow found myself amused enough to to respond to several requests for blog/facebook ‘tag’.
The rules are always a little different, so I’ve taken it upon myself to do this one MY way.
And I’m only gonna do this ONE time, got it?
1) I can’t donate blood in the US because I lived in the UK during the mad cow outbreak.
2) I’m neither an optimist nor a pessimist. I’m a realist. It’s half a glass.
3) Beer chugging skill: I’ve been clocked at under 3 seconds for a full pint.
4) I understand the need for “personality” in marketing, but I disagree with those who use their families, especially detailed stories and photos of their children, to show that they’re ‘real’.
5) Iron Maiden fan/collector. Have the original “Soundhouse Tapes“.
6) My first ‘real job’ after leaving college early had me boiling water professionally. I worked at the UofChicago steam plant for 5 years. Don’t miss it one bit.
7) I’ve always wanted to do one of those mid-winter ‘polar bear plunge’ events, but know I’d have a heart attack and/or drown.
8) I have never lifted a kettlebell. Nor do I care to.
(update: I bought a kettlebell in 2010 and yes, I occasionally use it. But it’ll still never be as good, IMO, as a heavy set of deadlifts)
9) Yes, I ‘tweet‘. Is that so wrong?
10) I never sign checks. I autograph them.
11) I am not the dancing type. Far from it, in fact. Yet when I saw ‘Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo‘ in 1984, I KNEW I was destined to become a professional break dancer.
12) I’m frequently told I have a good voice for radio. Or was that “face”? Either way, I always welcome the opportunity to audition for voice acting gigs.
Don’t lie… You’re dying to know more, aren’t you?
The other half of my randomly useless info can be found on my Facebook page.
Eureka! New Unit of Energy Described
If you’re anything like me, you respect and admire the science geeks who brought us the Watt, Joule, BTU and Calorie, but as far as units of energy go, those are all like, so 1860s – ya’ know?
Funny how I was just thinking the other day, “Joe” (as I said to myself) “it’s high time we have a new way to describe energy.”
And whaddya know, as I was working out in my near freezing garage this afternoon, I discovered it.
Being the humble kind of guy that I am, I’m naming it the Jcal (that’s short for ‘Joe calorie’ in case you’re wondering. Capital J should go without saying)
I certainly don’t want to make you feel insignificant by tossing around any hard-to-understand scientific mumbo-jumbo or mathematical formulas, so the simple explanation of a Jcal is that it is the amount of squatting it takes to raise the temperature of my garage gym from 34 to 35 degrees Fahrenheit.
Take that, James Prescott Joule!
How do you measure the intensity of YOUR workouts?
Before I Was Famous…
Many years before I lived in Grand Rapids, MI – or Delaware – or even England…
A lifetime before I began blogging at “the cup”
Before I laid the groundwork for This Workout Doesn’t Suck
Before writing the Ultimate Home Gym Guide
Before I was a member of the advisory board for Men’s Fitness magazine
Before I became a contributing author to “The Power of Champions”
Before I was “the official fitness trainer for Miss Delaware USA” (2003-04)
Long before anyone ever uttered the words “fitness expert” before my name…
I was a powerlifter
…and life was good
(even if I did finish second)
"Mighty" Joe Stankowski
