March of Dimes

Dear Fellow Wahoos,

Sometimes in life, you know exactly the path you want to take. Other times, you encounter a purpose in completely unexpected circumstances.

For our family, the life changing event was the premature birth of our daughter Amelia five and a half years ago. Her eight weeks in the NICU were a harrowing, heart-straining experience where emotions moved daily and progress was measured in grams. Throughout, we were thankful for the exceptional care provided by the doctors and nurses of INOVA Fairfax and Capital Mercer Trenton.

After Amelia’s arrival home, we started looking for ways to give back. My wife Christy, also a 1990 graduate, now works for the March of Dimes as a NICU Family Support Specialist at Capital Mercer, helping families through the joys and pains of life in the NICU.

Our oldest daughter Maddie, age 11, frequently speaks for the March of Dimes, sharing her thoughts on what it was like to not be able to truly see her baby sister for 63 days because hospital visitation policies prohibited siblings in the NICU. Tess, age 7, helps at Sibling Hours sponsored by the NICU Family Support Program, where brothers and sisters learn what it’s like to have a NICU baby in the family.

And I captain La Famiglia di Amelia, our March for Babies family team, raising over $70,000 in the past three years and finishing as the #10 family team in the country for the past two years.

To understand how our family feels about Amelia, please click on the link below which takes you to a video created by Maddie on why Amelia is her hero. 

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QCY0PsgKWs 

Prematurity knows no bounds. This crisis affects all ethnic groups, income levels and ages. And there are no clear answers as to why 1 in 8 babies is born early in this country.

Thank you for selecting the March of Dimes as this year’s Cavaliers Care cause for the UVA Club of Philadelphia. Please join our family in committing your efforts to the March of Dimes. You can truly be a hero for babies.

La Famiglia di Amelia
Bob, Christy, Maddie, Tess and Amelia Keppel

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