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TO FEATURES, HEALTH, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
Cigna Celebrates Babies: 10 Fingers, 10 Toes, And 20 Years Of
Supporting March Of Dimes
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., April 7, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- This year marks the
20th anniversary of Cigna's support of the March of Dimes work to give
all babies a healthy start in life. The company is celebrating with a
new slogan, 10 Fingers, 10 Toes and 20 Years, and by ringing The
Closing Bell@ at the New York Stock Exchange today.
Supermodel and mother of four, Niki Taylor, will join March of Dimes
and Cigna officials and other corporate supporters of this year's
March for Babies, the March of Dimes signature fundraising event.
Throughout its partnership with the March of Dimes, Cigna has raised
more than $28.5 million to support the March of Dimes work to give
more moms healthy, full-term pregnancies and healthy babies.
"We're proud to continue a 20-year tradition as a national sponsor of
the March of Dimes annual fundraising campaign. For two decades, Cigna
and its employees nationwide have taken the March of Dimes' mission to
heart and joined together to help prevent premature births," said Lisa
Bacus, President of the Cigna Foundation and Cigna's Global Chief
Marketing Officer. "We take great pride in supporting March of Dimes
research, service and education to help every woman have a healthy
pregnancy and to give every baby a healthy start in life."
March for Babies will take place in nearly 700 communities in all 50
states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico the last weekend in
April. March for Babies has been held annually since 1970 and has
raised a combined total of more than $2.3 billion. The goal for this
year's event is to raise $106 million to support the research,
education, and community service programs that help mothers and babies
nationwide. This year's March for Babies will involve more than 20,000
companies and 7 million people, including celebrities, sports stars,
community leaders and families of babies born prematurely who are
involved as volunteers, sponsors and participants.
Cigna, along with the March of Dimes number one corporate supporter,
Kmart, and top sponsors Macy's, Famous Footwear, Sanofi Pasteur,
Mission Pharmacal, United Airlines, and Actavis are giving back to
their to their communities by supporting March for Babies.
"We're honored to work with companies that are committed to
philanthropy and leadership for improving the health of America's
babies," says Dr. Jennifer L. Howse, president of the March of Dimes.
"Preventing preterm birth not only helps individual employees and
families, it's one way we can rein in our nation's skyrocketing health
care costs and help businesses protect their bottom line."
Preterm birth is a serious health problem that costs the nation more
than $26 billion annually, according to a report from the Institute of
Medicine. More than 450,000 babies - one out of every nine - are born
too soon each year in the United States.
As a celebrity volunteer, Niki is proud to lend her voice in support
of stronger, healthier babies. For the third consecutive year she will
march for babies in her home state of Florida.
"I'm so proud to be a March of Dimes mom," says Niki Taylor, March of
Dimes Celebrity volunteer. "I'm lucky because I have four healthy
children, but that's because of the amazing work the March of Dimes
has done to improve mom and baby health. As a family we are very
excited to be participating in March for Babies, and I urged everyone
to sign up now."
March for Babies will occur in most communities on April 26 and 27.
You can either walk as an individual or join a team with co-workers,
family or friends by visiting marchforbabies.org.
The money raised by March for Babies events supports research,
education, and community-based programs that help moms have full-term
pregnancies and healthy babies. March of Dimes grantees conduct
research to find answers to the problems that threaten the health of
babies.
The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy
and baby health. For more than 75 years, moms and babies have
benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and
breakthroughs. Find out how you can help raise funds to prevent
premature birth and birth defects by walking in March for Babies at
marchforbabies.org. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
SOURCE March of Dimes
-0- 04/07/2014
/CONTACT: Elizabeth Lynch, (914) 997-4286, elynch@marchofdimes.com; Todd Dezen, (914) 997-4608, tdezen@marchofdimes.com; Cigna contact: Judy Hartling (860.226.6272), judy.hartling@cigna.com
/Web Site: http://www.marchforbabies.org
CO: March of Dimes; Cigna
ST: New York
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SU: CHI NPT CSR HSP
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-- DC99334 --
0000 04/07/2014 04:01:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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