Purple balloons and attention-grabbing photographs of frail baby faces decorated Greene Street Thursday afternoon as a reminder of the 13 million babies worldwide whose lives may be threatened because they were born too soon.
Phi Beta Lambda business fraternity honored World Prematurity Day by raising awareness for the March of Dimes, a national organization aiming to prevent premature birth defects and infant mortality. According to March of Dimes Community Director Jacquelyne Nuovo, South Carolina has one of the highest premature birth rates in the U.S., with one out of seven births occurring too early.
Passing students could show their support by placing a purple or pink handprint along with their signature on a mural that will be donated to the neonatal intensive care unit at Palmetto Health.
“This is our first real event on campus,” Phi Beta Lambda President Donald Iorio said. “We’ve had hundreds come through ... A lot of students have said that they’ve been affected, either because they were born prematurely or because they have friends or family who were. Prematurity affects so many people.”
Iorio said Phi Beta Lambda’s purpose was to increase awareness of prematurity, but the organization will be raising funds during the spring semester for the March of Dimes 2012 March for Babies in April.
