Falling Into Service: March of Dimes Fall Event

As many of you already know, my Capstone project involves the late preterm infant.  As part of my service learning, as well as my personal efforts, I volunteer for the March of Dimes.  I have already met the required hours for the course, but since this is a life-long committment to this group, I will continue to log volunteer hours for the March of Dimes.

My mid-term service learning posting for this deadline will be short, since the bulk of the work for this semester has been in planning the volunteer duties for the up-coming Signature Chef's Auction event that will be held in the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, Maryland on October 19th.  Since this posting is due by October 17th, the event is two days shy of the deadline, but I will write another posting on Thursday October 20th to update on my volunteer activities.

Up till this point, I have been working with Wendy and Nicole from the Eastern Shore Chapter of the March of Dimes to recruit volunteers for this event.  Our NICU has also been collecting items for a gift basket to be auctioned off at the event for a silent auction bid.  We decided to go with a "Pampered" theme and are putting items in the basket for this purpose.  We are asking for donations for the basket.  In the past, these baskets have brought $150 to $300 dollars in donations for the MOD efforts.  Things like candles, chocolate, gift cards and dinners for two have been donated, so far.  Another thing I have done this last 4 weeks, is to recruit 3 other volunteers for the night of the auction.  This is a "black-tie" affair and much goes in to preparation for this event.  It brings a huge amount of money to our local chapter that is used for our community.  My job has been to recruit and organize volunteers for this event to help with registration, silent auction bid collection, set-up and break-down of the event mission boards and I was also able to recruit the keynote speaker.  She is a colleague who works as an RN in the NICU and who last year delivered a preemie of her own.  She will give a small presentation on the two roles she has experienced as a NICU nurse and the mother of a preemie. 

So, for this posting, I ask that you all hold tight for the next installment which will describe the activities and learning experiences related to a most wonderful event.  In that posting I will be able to describe the joy and pride of giving and serving others and watching my friend speak about her experiences.

Thank you,
Angie Houck
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