By TAYLOR SMITH
Contributing Writer
Premature babies and their families around the world need all the help they can get to appropriately provide the correct care to their newborns until they are stable. Luckily, there is a large fundraiser every year called March of Dimes. Piedmont students have a few places nearby to choose to help with. The Northeast Georgia Mountains Committee (NGMC) covers Rabun, Habersham, and White counties and is hosting 3 events in the next six months.
The first event has enlisted the help of a PC 101 class, taught by English professor Dr. Lisa Hodgens. Her students are very excited about the opportunity.
Freshman business major Katelyn Whelchel said, “When I started the class I knew we would be doing a community service project, but I never expected to get to do something so exciting and for such a good cause. Brooke really set us up with something great.”
The person to do the enlisting was a non-traditional senior business major and the soon to be commitee chair of the program Brooke Kowalsky. She also happens to be the one hosting the Barrel Race for Babies.
“It is a great feeling to know that I am just a small part to a big organization that help premature babies. I went into labor at 24 weeks with my son, and because of the current innovations in medicine, they were able to stop my labor and I carried my son to 37 weeks,” said Kowalsky.
“This would not have been possible without organizations like March of Dimes.”
Kowalsky has worked with the program since 2007 and has made it her goal to help raise money through events other than the big walk. Kowalsky’s event, Barrel Race for Babies, is going on strong into its third year.
Anybody is welcome to participate or volunteer at the events, and community service hours can be awarded.
For more information, email Brooke Kowalsky at [email protected], visit the website for March of Dimes or like the “Barrel Racing for Babies” and “March of Dimes–Northeast Georgia Mountains” pages on Facebook.