I spoke at the March of Dimes Sport Luncheon!

I spoke at the March of Dimes Sport Luncheon! 

By Elizabeth Pauley, Program Attorney

On December 4th, I spoke at the March of Dimes Sports Luncheon at Cipriani’s in NYC. We were the "mission family," meaning that I spoke in front of 400 guests from the sports world who were there to support the March of Dimes.

The event also honored Eli Manning, who received their "Hero Award" for his 15 years of involvement with the organization. We got to meet Eli, which was very exciting as Giants fans and took some pictures with him. He was very kind and even signed jerseys for my twins. The event raised over $1 million, and we felt proud to help contribute to our story! Now in its 40th year, the luncheon brings together the sports media and community to raise over $1.1M for the March of Dimes. In 2024, we were expecting 400 people to attend this leading event. The luncheon sustains vital funding for many local mission programs. In New York and New Jersey, there are four NICU Family Support Sites.

This program funds a full-time, in-person March of Dimes specialist to care for families through their difficult and often long journey in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and beyond. March of Dimes NY recently expanded its partnership with NewYork-Presbyterian to launch the first-ever Mom and Baby Mobile Health Unit. Unique to the area, the mobile health unit leverages March of Dimes’ 80 years of public health expertise to provide community-based services for pre-conception, prenatal, and postnatal care based on the greatest need.

It was an honor to be part of such a meaningful event and contribute to the continued success of the March of Dimes mission.