They came in all shapes and sizes, ages and ethnic backgrounds: men and women, some sports-minded and others couch potatoes, all braving bright sunlight to walk for a good cause. Most evident in this year’s March of Dimes Walk America on April 30 was the sea of green t-shirts that distinguished the Secaucus contingent. While other groups also marched, wearing colors that included deep purple, robin’s-egg blue and the more traditional white, the green shirts have become the uniform of a new concept of giving in Secaucus. Of the 1,000 walkers who took part in walk around Secaucus, 127 of them were from Secaucus, raising in excess of $5,000. “We don’t have the final numbers yet,” said Town Administrator Anthony Iacono last week. “But we broke $5,000 and we’re still counting.” In 10 counties in New Jersey, 13 marches were held this year, raising a total of about $1.6 million. Hudson County held two marches, one in Secaucus and one in Liberty State Park. Total participants for Hudson County rose by about 600 from last year. The Secaucus march doubled in size from 500 in 1999 to 1,000 this year. The March of Dimes is a non-profit organization whose funds go to benefit research into birth defects. It was established by Pres. Franklin Roosevelt in 1938 to save America’s youth from polio. He created a partnership of volunteers and researchers under the premise that people could solve any problem if they worked together. Within 17 years, the Salk vaccine had been developed, but since then, the March of Dimes has expanded its purpose to fight many of the causes of birth defects. Walk America has been going on since 1970, with more than 1,400 communities across America and more than 825,000 people walking to raise money to prevent birth defects and infant mortality. Karen Urickia, March of Dimes representative for New Jersey, said the Liberty Park march raised about $120,000. The Secaucus march brought in $130,000, about $17,000 more than last year. Mayor Dennis Elwell, who led the march with a group of people dressed in green shirts, said about 167 Secaucus people in total lent a hand to the effort, including walkers, volunteers for watering stations, Office of Emergency Management staffers and others. This was the first public demonstration of the mayor’s “Team Elwell” concept, part of an effort to get the community involved in charity efforts. The idea behind this is to create an atmosphere of community-based giving. Elwell said he was very encouraged by the large turnout, seeing it as proof that the community is ready for the Team Elwell concept. “I was very, very pleased by the turnout,” he said, noting that he was one of the first 20 to cross the finish line. “Last year, I finished in the top 50 or 60,” he said. Marchers began and finished at the Panasonic headquarters complex on Meadowlands Parkway. The day’s events began with pre-march activities including stretching exercises and short speeches by representatives from the town and from the March of Dimes. On an average day in the United States, 10,662 babies are born. Of these babies, 933 will be born with low or very low birthweight, and another 411 will be born with a birth defect. On an average day in the United States, 96 babies will die. Researchers funded by the March of Dimes include the development of the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines, the first bone marrow transplant to treat a birth defect, research that discovered that drinking alcohol causes birth defects and many others.
Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
