Teams will be celebrating next week because they recently helped the March of Dimes raise close to $60,000 through the Suffolk WalkAmerica held Sunday, April 27. The local Awards Ceremony will begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, in the Suffolk Museum, located at 118 Bosley Avenue.

The regional March of Dimes office will be recognizing top individual fund-raisers and top teams, as well as giving special honors to community volunteers who made the Suffolk WalkAmerica such a success. The walk gathered close to 600 walkers who trekked through Riverview, Lakeside and downtown Suffolk.

WalkAmerica is the March of Dimes’ largest fund-raising event. Last year more than half a million people walked in some 1,400 communities. WalkAmerica supports March of Dimes’ programs to help babies be born healthy. More babies in this country die because of birth defects, low birth weight, and prematurity than any other cause.

Through its nationwide Campaign for Healthier Babies, the March of Dimes raises funds to support research, education and health services to overcome these critical problems. Over the years, the March of Dimes has ensured many successes – conquering the ravages of polio, developing the PKU newborn screening tests, creating the life-saving surfactant therapy to help premature babies breathe, and building neonatal intensive care units.

Teams walking this year included Applebee’s Restaurant, BB&T, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, CitiFinancial, Community Electric, The Children’s Center, City of Suffolk, First Federal Savings Bank, First Virginia Bank/Hampton Roads, First Baptist Christian School, Lake Prince Center, Lakeview Medical Center, Main Street Day Care & Preschool, Mothers of Preschoolers, Nansemond River Pilot Club, Obici Hospital, Sara Lee Coffee & Tea, Suffolk Health Department, Suffolk Pentecostal Holiness Church, Suffolk Parks & Recreation Department, Suffolk Police Department, Suffolk Public Schools, Virginia Employment Commission, Vicare, Wilroy Baptist Church, and Zuni Presbyterian Homes.

Sponsors for the 2003 Suffolk Walk include Gold Sponsor Ciba Specialty Chemicals; t-shirt sponsor QVC; start/finish sponsor Physical Therapy Works; mission sign sponsors Duke Automotive and Starr Motors; and mile post marker sponsors Lakeview Medical Center, Sharon’s Hair Designs, Suffolk Pentecostal Holiness Church, Suffolk Public Schools, and Supreme Petroleum.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies. More information is available on the March of Dimes Web sites at www.modimes.org and www.nacersano.org