Essex County March for Babies Comes to Brookdale Park on April 26

The 2015 Essex County March for Babies, benefitting the March of Dimes, a national nonprofit that works to end premature birth and infant mortality, will take place on Sunday, April 26, at Brookdale Park in Bloomfield.

Registration for the event will begin at 8 a.m.; the walk will begin at 9 a.m.

University Hospital President and CEO James R. Gonzalez and University Hospital Physician Onajovwe Fofah are co-chairs of this year’s event.

According to a release, Fofah cared for 2015 March of Dimes National Ambassador, 12 year-old Elijah Jackson, in Rockford, Illinois, when Jackson was born premature at 25 weeks, weighing just over a pound.

“I recall several nights spending hours at Elijah’s bedside,” stated Fofah in a release. “He was the tiniest and sickest baby in the unit. To see him almost as tall as I am at only 12 years old is very fulfilling and humbling… Talk about life going full circle.”

As part of their effort toward the fundraising event, hospital administrators have stated that they have a $65,000 pledge goal, and have set up a website for interested supporters.

Photo caption: University Hospital Physician Onajovwe Fofah cares for a patient in the hospital’s neonatal center.