President of Passaic County Community College Leads March of Dimes Effort to Improve Health of Passaic County Babies

Almost 10,000 of New Jersey babies will be born premature this year, and business leader Dr. Steven M. Rose is working with the March of Dimes to change this.

Dr. Rose, President of Passaic County Community College, knows how important the March of Dimes mission is to families in Passaic County. He has taken on this role of 2016 March for Babies chair to raise awareness and important funding to help babies born prematurely or with birth defects. Dr. Rose has made the commitment to raise $34,000 in new revenue as part of the overall goal of $170,000.

March for Babies, the March of Dimes largest fundraiser, helps fund lifesaving research and educational programs aimed at helping moms have healthy babies. Last year in Passaic County, more than $165,000 was raised. This year, March for Babies Chair Dr. Steven Rose will focus on recruiting new companies to participate and lead the community in making a difference for the health of moms and babies.

“As a community leader, this campaign gives me and my organization a unique opportunity to help the community that I love. And as a father, I can’t think of a more important cause than our babies,” said Dr. Rose, who will be asking other local businesses for their support in the coming months. “Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death in this country. One in ten of our babies here in New Jersey are born premature but in areas of Passaic County that rate is as high as 12.3% and that’s just not acceptable. It takes leaders in our community working together to ensure more moms have healthy pregnancies. More than 20,000 companies are partnering in March for Babies to help reduce the premature birth rate and improve the health of babies.”

Passaic County residents can sign up today at www.marchforbabies.org and start a team with co-workers, family or friends. Last year, more than 900 people attended the event -- which will be held this year on May 1, 2016 at Wayne Hills High School in Wayne.

“We’re so excited to have Dr. Rose on board to help us at a local level,” said Gina Radice, Executive Director of Market Development, March of Dimes. “His passion for the cause and commitment to helping our babies will be a huge driving factor in the success of our event. We are grateful for his commitment.”

The 2016 March for Babies is sponsored nationally by the March of Dimes number one corporate supporter Kmart, Famous Footwear, Macy’s, Cigna, United Airlines, and Mission Pharmacal and locally by Barnabas Health, PSEG, UnitedHealthcare, Virtua, Comcast NBCUniversal, New Jersey Monthly, New Jersey Family, NJ Kids on the Go and TAPinto.net.