March of Dimes Honors Nurses, Delivers Gratitude Bags at LLU Children’s Hospital

Representatives from the March of Dimes visited Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital Thursday, Dec. 17 to recognize nurses from the Total Care Birth Center and neonatal intensive care units in honor of Prematurity Awareness Month. Five units at LLUCH received Days of Gratitude bags containing patient education materials and resources for nurses as well as some holiday treats. Christina Huyett, director of March of Dimes Inland Empire Division was among the visitors. “The March of Dimes wanted to give these to the nursing staff as a token of our appreciation," Huyett said, “for all the hard work that is done in an effort to keep babies healthy.” A former patient of the Total Care Birth Center, Mackenzie Schmidt, was also in attendance. Since 2007, The Schmidt family has raised over $87,000 for the March of Dimes, and because of that dedication, they were provided with a plaque by the organization to present to the hospital that they felt is dedicated to improving the health of babies. For the third year in a row, The Schmidts have given the plaque to LLUCH. The Schmidts hope to have raised $100,000 after the next March for Babies Walk in April 2016. The March of Dimes is the leading non-profit organization for pregnancy and baby health. With chapters nationwide, 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.