March of Dimes

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We knew how lucky we were when we woke up on May 12, 2002, and Jake and Josh were still fighting for their lives in the NICU. Our appreciation grew every day thereafter.

Around February 2005, things were relatively calm enough in our lives that we were ready to give back to society. But how?

Lori heard about the March of Dimes' WalkAmerica event, so we signed up. We knew the March of Dimes name, but we had no idea that it was the organization leading the charge in the fight against prematurity.

We  became involved in the newly formed "family team" category of the Walk.  Our "Aron Family Team" raised nearly $5,000, making us the top  fund-raisers in Dallas for 2005. As a result, we became the co-coordinators of the 2006 Family Teams campaign.

With the help of a poker tournament, we doubled our take to a shade under $10,000, again tops in Dallas for 2006. We raised more than $7,500 in 2007.

In 2008, the event became known as March for Babies. 

Wow.

Our fifth year of being involved with this great event and great organization was our favorite. We were fortunate enough to speak to some wonderful groups and to take part in some really fun events. The topper, of course, was the walk itself, highlighted by Jake's stirring rendition of the national anthem, which he learned to perform at this event.

Although the weather dampened things, Jakey brightened the mood with the song - as evidenced by the roar from a crowd of about 25,000. That's not just our biased perspective; many others have told us so. 

Keep scrolling down to relive our thrills and click here to see how our fund-raising went.

You  can also click around to see what else we've done for the March of  Dimes in 2009, to learn about Jake's DVD debut and to catch up with big  brother Zac.