FINDING SOLUTIONS: Duck Dash to raise funds for safe cribs
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A partnership to save local babies is off the ground and running, and we need your help. News 12 found too many babies here at home are dying simply because they don’t have a safe place to sleep at night.
Even preventable death is one too many, but we found 16 babies died in Richmond County alone, just in a year’s time from sleeping on an unsafe surface. Finding solutions starts with teamwork.
“This new partnership with Wellstar-MCG Health is going to allow us to identify families who need these beds and for the community to get involved in providing these beds,” said Danny McConnell, president and CEO of the Family Y of Greater Augusta.
Doctors and nurses along with social workers at Wellstar-MCG Health will help identify patients who truly need this help, and the need is great.
Dr. Champa Woodham treats moms with high-risk pregnancies.
“I anticipate on a weekly basis to have several patients that would be qualifying for this type of service,” she predicts.
She says once this program fully launches in October, we will need a lot of pack-n-plays to fill the need. And if you’re asking, why pack-n-plays? Many of the families in need are in transient housing. Some are even homeless. A pack-n-play provides a consistently safe, yet portable, option for a family to rely on to safely let their baby get a good night’s sleep.
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“I think the problem before was that no one was really asking. And, now that we’ve been asking, we realize this is a void we need to fill,” she said.
That’s where the Augusta Canal comes in. And, you’re probably asking, ‘What does the canal have to do with saving babies?’ We’re so glad you asked!
“Augusta Duck Dash is going to help us provide cribs for children that don’t have cribs,” said McConnell.
Thousands of rubber duckies are going to fulfill their destiny, and live out their dream of saving babies on Oct. 21, 2023 at the Savannah Rapids Park.
You can adopt a rubber ducky to race in the Augusta Duck Dash or the Kids Duck Dash for $10, and watch them race down the canal to win prizes. The first-place winner gets $1,500 cash and a family metro hip to the Family YMCA for a year. All of the proceeds go to the Family Y’s Place to Dream program.
“This is a new launch for our Place to Dream program and enables us to take these beds we’ve been given to children and extend that to babies. It’s a new piece we’re excited about,” said McConnell.
And, before we send those ducks on a rapid ride, we’re hosting a fun FREE family fall festival with bounce houses, food trucks, a costume contest for the kids, a Jeep contest for those rubber duck enthusiasts, and a trunk or treat. And, there are several prizes to be won along the way — all for a great cause.
“That we have so many people behind it makes me so excited because these are the kind of things we need to do in our communities to improve the outcomes of moms and babies and let them know we aren’t just there for their pregnancy, but we are looking out for them after, too,” said Dr. Woodham.
For more details and to adopt a ducky, go to augustaduckdash.com.
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