40 UD teams join WalkAmerica fund-raiser

4:59 p.m., May 6, 2005--Members of the campus community came out in great numbers May 1, demonstrating support for the annual March of Dimes WalkAmerica, held on and around the Newark campus. More than 40 University teams walked, jogged or ran the route, which started and ended at the Delaware Field House.

The walk, which drew more than 1,100 walkers in all for the New Castle County event, raises funds for research and programs to help prevent or treat premature birth and birth defects.

Lara Goldstein, AS ‘08, painted hearts and butterflies on children’s faces at an activity table sponsored by Chi Omega sorority. Margot Hsu Carroll, assistant to the executive vice president, handed out smoothies made by the culinary staff at the Courtyard Newark-University of Delaware. RoseMary Sullivan, wife of Courtyard general manager Bill Sullivan, sang the national anthem.

“We appreciate the UD walkers and the support we receive from the University,” Dina Handwerk, WalkAmerica director of the Delaware chapter of the March of Dimes, said.

Four-and-a-half-year-old Natalie, member of a UD team, gets her face painted by Lara Goldstein, AS ’08, before WalkAmerica.

Carroll, who helps coordinate UD involvement in the walk, is the mother of 3-year-old healthy twin boys, Aidan and Michael, who were born six and a half weeks premature.

Carroll said she was pleased by the large number of student teams that participated this year, including sororities, fraternities and the March of Dimes Collegiate Council. The council was formed last semester by Stacy Ricciadi, CHNS ‘05, in response to the high level of premature births in Delaware. “As a nutrition major,” she said, “I’m really concerned about the rate of premature births in Delaware and throughout the U.S. We want to do our part to try to reduce these numbers.”

Ricciardi raised more than $250 for the walk, e-mailing requests for donations to friends on campus and relatives back home in Ringwood, N.J. On the morning of the walk, she helped out by making balloon art for the numerous pint-sized walkers (and stroller-riders) in attendance.

Most of the 15 members of the Collegiate Council were on hand, staffing an activity table that also included a lollipop tree and a “guess the number of M&Ms” jar.

Council member Natalie Moe, CHNS ’05, said she found it easy to raise $75 for the walk. What was harder, she said, was getting out of bed early on a Sunday morning.

In addition to the children’s activities provided by the Collegiate Council, greek organizations and other student groups, WalkAmerica featured food--and plenty of it--before, during and after the event. For fueling up before the walk there were coffee and doughnuts. Bottled water and smoothies were offered at rest stops throughout the course. And, four-legged participants weren’t forgotten: Dog bones and bowls of water were available at the half-way point of the walk.

After the event, participants enjoyed pizza, chips, canned beverages and the banana-strawberry-melon smoothies made by hotel volunteers. “We went through 280 pizzas, donated by Seasons Pizza, and more than 2,500 bottles of water,” Handwerk said.

Seniors (from left) Paige Klingborgm, Kaitlin Barry and Stacey Ricciardi, leader of the March of Dimes Collegiate Council at UD

Pledge amounts have not yet been compiled, but walk organizers already consider the event a success in the attention it has drawn to the cause of premature births and birth defects. Even the weather cooperated. The morning dawned damp and brisk, but, by the midpoint of the walk, participants were shedding sweatshirts and jackets. It was sunny and bright--picture-perfect conditions for enjoying a spring walk on UD’s Newark campus.

Article by Margo McDonough
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson

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