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Iditarod mushers carrying babies’ footprints on the Last Great Race to Nome.
 Media Event:
Why: 100 tiny footprints of Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU) babies will be carried 1,149 miles by dogsled on the “Last Great Race on Earth” by veteran Iditarod mushers DeeDee Jonrowe and Jessie Royer to build public awareness around the challenge of premature birth. Parents in all of the NICUs in Alaska have been invited to send their babies’ footprints on the Iditarod, along with a letter about prematurity. These will be carried on a dogsled from Anchorage to Nome; and mailed back to the families. Letters will also be sent to legislators on the Alaska Senate, House, and Health and Social Services Committees, to emphasize the message that prematurity is important to all of us in Alaska as a public health issue. This includes prevention of premature birth as well as providing services to children who have been born prematurely, so that they can have their full measure of high quality of life and productive citizenship.
Who: Iditarod mushers, DeeDee Jonrowe and Jessie Royer; Providence NICU Medical Director Dr. Lily Lou; official artist of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, Jon Van Zyle; Philatelic Society volunteer, David Schwantes; and parents of NICU babies.
What: The envelopes that will carry the baby footprints will be signed by DeeDee and Jessie and hand canceled for the first half of their journey. The mushers and other volunteers will be given a tour of the NICU.
When: 7 p.m., March 4, 2009
Where: Providence Alaska Medical Center, 3200 Providence Drive, Anchorage, AK 99508
RSVP: Providence Media line, 212-6083
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About Providence Alaska Medical Center
Providence Alaska Medical Center is part of Providence Health & Services, a not-for-profit network of hospitals, care centers, health plans, physicians, clinics, home health services, affiliated services and educational facilities.
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