JUST FOR 'FUN' RASIER - MARCH (OF DIMES) MADNESS

JUST FOR 'FUN' RASIER - MARCH (OF DIMES) MADNESS

http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-brac…/…/group…

For every entry submitted, I will donate $1 to Team CoraNation.org (up to the number of teams eligible for the tournament)

The winner of the Bracket Challenge will get a $50 donation in their name along with a CoraNation team T-shirt.

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Thanks!
http://www.coranation.org/
"an act of true love can save babies lives "

March of Dimes, Cora and You!

March 13, 2015
http://www.coranation.org/
an act of true love can save babies lives

Hello.

It seems fitting to start my email marketing and corporate campaign on Friday the 13th. The entire story behind Cora was extremely scary to say the least, one that I would not wish on my worst enemy. While Cora's story (see below), to this day, has ended up as a happy ending, there are far too many others that do not.
883 babies died before their first birthday in 2014
15,090 babies were born premature in 2014
North Carolina ranked 45th in the nation in the number of premature births

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. Because of everything that has transpired with Cora, I have decided to partner with the March For Babies walk, the annual fund-raiser for the March of Dimes.

I am writing in hopes of gaining your company’s (and your) participation for this signature event held at Perimeter Park on April 25, 2015. It brings our community together for one walk, with one voice, and with the hope that one day all babies will be born healthy. I would love to have you sit down with the Sr. Community Director of the March For babies walk to learn how your company can become involved with this wonderful event.

Each year, more than 15,000 babies (1 in 9) are born too soon or too sick in North Carolina. On average, that is 299 preterm babies and 214 babies born with low birth weight each week in NC. To make it more visual,  that is the equivalent of having 714 empty kindergarten classrooms. We need your help to no longer make this a reality.

You can play a crucial role in helping to fight the leading cause of infant death in North Carolina, prematurity. By partnering with the March of Dimes, your support goes to help fund almost $4 million in local research grants with Duke, UNC, and UNC-CH. Your dollars also support local programs, advocacy, and education. We need your help to make a difference in the lives of babies in the Triangle and meet our goal of $600,000!

Team Cora Nation Next Steps
For Team CoraNation.org, you can become a sponsor and have your logo printed on our team shirts also
Sponsorship is $883 (or equivalent in goods and services)
Decisions need to be made by Sunday, March 29th
Please contact me directly (mbabaian@gmail.com) for more information!

Thank you in advance for your time in listening. Together, we can help North Carolina have stronger, healthier babies! Thank you in advance for your support and commitment. I look forward to seeing you at the March for Babies Walk.

Sincerely,
Matt Babaian
http://www.coranation.org/

Cora's Story

Our Joy: http://www.coranation.org/

March 7th 2015

Today should have been a day of celebration as today should have been Cora's first birthday. Instead today is a time to reflect and celebrate for other reasons.

Cora is what is referred to as a Micro Preemie. She was born weighing less than 1 pound, 12 ounces (800 grams) or before 26 weeks gestation. Cora spent one hundred and twenty one (121) days in Duke's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). While today Cora is doing wonderful, 2014 was a difficult year for our family.

Today we announce our Fund-raising page for the March of Dimes. http://www.coranation.org/ I wholeheartedly believe that without the research from the March of Dimes, Cora would not be here today.

The March of Dimes funds prematurity research through its national research program. Grantees are improving the care of premature babies by developing new ways to help prevent or treat common complications of prematurity. For example, researchers helped develop surfactant treatment, which has saved tens of thousands of premature babies with breathing problems, as seen in the 'Introducing Cora Leigh' video (http://www.coranation.org/about.html)

I also find it fitting that today is the huge 'Battle of the Blues' rivalry of UNC vs Duke. I despised Duke for the first 35 years of my life. As a UNC MBA, we were taught to hate our 'neighbors to the north'. This will no longer be the case though. I also wholeheartedly believe that without Duke Hospital Cora would not be here either. While I will have on my UNC gear tonight, deep down at places we do not talk about at parties, alittle voice inside will be saying 'Go Duke'

What will your donation go towards? The best way I can describe it is by this. Please find a coin (quarter) and flip it twice.... I do not recall the countless times I did this at the hospital just thinking 'what if'. For Cora and all 25 weekers, the survival rate is 75%, which as a betting man that is pretty good, but when it is your own child, 25% chance of death is not great. So did your flipping come up Heads each time? To me that represented everything bad that could have happened. If it came up Heads/Tails, or Tails/Tails or Tails/Heads, all was good. Your donation today will go towards making that mortality percentage continue to push closer to zero percent.

I urge you to comment / share / tweet / email this story. I would love for Cora to receive the most individual contributions in a single day in March of Dimes history (whatever that is). :-)

Together, we can help North Carolina (and the world) have stronger, healthier babies! Thank you in advance for your support and commitment.

Matt Babaian
http://www.coranation.org/