Austin family to honor two babies with fundraiser
Published 4:43 am Monday, October 8, 2012
When Austinites hit the jail cells next Wednesday as part of a March of Dimes fundraiser, it will stir memories for one local couple.
Mark and Mikayla Austin remember holding their two premature babies, Noah, just 13 ounces, and Isabelle, 15 ounces in December of 2009. Shortly after, Noah and Isabelle both died.
Because the Austins weren’t expecting their babies until May, they were overwhelmed with sadness, depression and confusion.
“We were devastated when we found out I was in labor and the babies would not make it,” Mikayla said.
Because of stories like this, the March of Dimes is once again hosting its Austin Jail & Bail at Torge’s Live at the Holiday Inn, 1701 Fourth St. NW, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10. Volunteer jailbirds serve time in a mock jail. Prisoners are arraigned on outlandish charges, and are then sentenced to spend an hour in the slammer to raise bail in the form of donations to the March of Dimes.
Money raised at the Austin Jail and Bail will provide funding for the mission of the March of Dimes to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
Mark and Mikayla support the March of Dimes to help other families that have suffered similar losses and to help with their own healing process by becoming involved with other families that can relate to their experience.
Preterm babies are born at a higher rate in the United States than in 130 other countries of the world, including many poorer nations, according to the report Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth. Members of the Austin community will help the March of Dimes fight this problem by going to jail.
Losing children so soon is never easy, but March of Dimes has helped their coping process and now they volunteer to prevent this from happening to other babies.
The 2012 report Born too Soon ranks the U.S. 131st in the world in terms of its preterm birth rate of 12 per 100 live births, almost tied with Somalia, Thailand, and Turkey. Nearly half a million babies are born too soon in the U.S. each year. In Minnesota, one in 10 babies is born premature.