USD prepares to host first local March of Dimes walk

Although members of the University of South Dakota’s Golden Key International Honour Society participated in a March of Dimes walk last year, the group is hosting its own local walk this year. 

Members of the student group walked in the Sioux City march last year, but because all of the funds raised went to the state of Iowa, senior and president Catie Steir and vice president and sophomore Jordyn Larson decided to organize a Vermillion walk.

“We came up with the idea ‘let’s give this a go,’ — let’s make it in the Southeast corner of South Dakota,” Steir said. “I tried to get the ball rolling and decide what we needed to work on, which was more about participation, not quite fundraising.”

USD’s walk will be held Saturday, April 12 at 2:30 p.m. with registration at 2:00 p.m. on the East Lawn of the Muenster University Center.

Steir said the group is still focusing on fundraising,  but their main goal this year is to set a foundation and get as many people included in the walk as possible.

While the march falls on the same day as Pre-med Day and Junior Visit Day, Larson said those events will help get the community involved.

“It’s good to have a community event that isn’t just a USD event,” Larson said.  “It’s a family-friendly event — you’re raising awareness for parents.”

Larson and Steir said their passion for the event came from a member of the group who was involved last year who had twin brothers born premature.

“It transferred over to me, especially because I just had a nephew who was born premature,” Larson said. “Research is so important.”

Kenneth Green, adviser for the group, said Vermillion is the smallest city in South Dakota to host a walk.

“We’re hoping our turnout is great, but we realize this isn’t Sioux Falls,” he said. “Hosting a walk here on campus will allow us to get more students involved.”

The group has raised more than $900, which is already more than the group raised last year.

“We’ve been successful already in our fundraising because we’ve surpassed last year’s goal, but we’re still looking to get more,” Green said.

The March of Dimes raises money to support programs which help mothers have healthy, full-term pregnancies, and it funds research to find answers to the problems which threaten babies.

The March of Dimes, which was established by Franklin Roosevelt in 1938, has been sponsoring fundraising walks since 1970 and has raised $2.3 billion.

Because South Dakota has a higher poverty rate, Green said it can sometimes lead to premature births because of a lack of education for some young individuals who may become pregnant.

“A baby born even two weeks premature has significantly more problems than a baby who was able to come full term,” he said. “My biggest encouragement here is hoping to raise money to spread the word, and we can help solve the problems here.”

Green said members are just happy to have students show up and walk.

“This is something that may have an impact on people,” he said. “Showing up this year to walk with us is fantastic, and to raise funds is great as well.”