Almost 4 years ago I started volunteering for the Preeclampsia Foundation as a Walk Coordinator for the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia Philadelphia/South Jersey. I don’t think I realized how much it would change my life. I found that once you start on a path like volunteering for a cause that is so near and dear to your heart, it becomes a part of you. This year I was honored to have been awarded Preeclampsia Foundation Coordinator of The Year!
As Walk Coordinator for the Promise Walk for Preeclampsia Philadelphia/South Jersey, I get to meet and interact with so many wonderful mothers, walkers, supporters, companies, health care workers and brands that want to help. Some of my biggest responsibilities are to find walkers, run social media for our walk, spread the word, set up and organize and bring in items that we can then use as raffle and giveaways at the walk. We also need to get local volunteers to come out and help to make the morning enjoyable. Without the help from our community, donors and volunteers; our walk would never be as much a success as it is.
Charitable Brands and People I am Thankful For:
Jazzercize, Cherry Hill– Every year Lisa, the owner of Jazzercise -Cherry Hill, comes out and gets our crowd psyched just before they head off on the 5k. Lisa never had preeclampsia but she is just a lovely woman that wants to help out! I am grateful for Lisa!
Worlco Computer Resources– My Father-in-Law owns Worlco Computer Resources. He lets us have volunteer meetings, set up/wrap raffle prizes there, store an insane amount of boxes in our own office there AND then he helps transport it all to the walk and set-up. Without his help we would be in BIG trouble!!!
Wegman’s– Wegman’s has always been so generous supplying snacks and water for our walkers. They are always so flexible and helpful in terms of pick up, getting what we need and always so kind.
My Gym Cherry Hill- Every year the great people from My Gym, Cherry Hill come out and set up their bounce house for all the kids at the walk. Every year I hear how nice they are and see all the kids bouncing for hours!!
Tommee Tippee– Last year Tommee Tippee sent a two-pack of their awesome Truly Spill Proof Sippy cups for every walker. It was amazing to have such an awesome gift to give all our walkers and I heard such great feedback about the cups. It’s the only cup my kids will use!
Johnson & Johnson– Last year Johnson’s Baby Cares was so generous to our walkers as well!! They sent a full size bottle of Johnson’s Baby Intense Moisture Cream for each walker’s gift bag!! Our bags were FILLED with awesomeness!! I am also honored to be a Johnson & Johnson Social Influencer for Social Good!!
Cooper University Health Care- This year was our first year getting a Health Care Walking Team!!! They lovely people that came from Cooper were awesome, they came in team shirts, did their own fundraiser and were a great big red presence at our walk!
Walk Volunteers- Last and certainly not least, I am so grateful for the AMAZING volunteers at our walk. They are so incredibly dedicated and work so hard to make our walk a huge success!!! This year I even got a CO-Coordinator Melissa!
In honor of #GIVINGTUESDAY this week have you considered supporting a charity?
Disclosure: This post was written as part of my participation in the Tommee Mommee program. I was compensated for this post but ALL the opinions and gratitude are truly mine!
Hi Sarah,
I just stumbled upon your blog by accident and am so happy I did! I too suffered postpartum pre-eclampsia AND I live in Cherry Hill! This July, at 37 weeks, I was told I would be induced due to a severe spike in my BP and protein in my urine. My labor and induction lasted over 60 hours, but in the end everything went well and we welcomed our beautiful Sydney into the world. After labor is when things got strange. My body swelled up like a balloon- every single part. I was told this was due to the massive amounts of fluids being pumping into my body during the induction and labor, but it just felt wrong. My maternity clothes were actually tighter on me after having her! My blood pressure also started to slow climb again. During the induction and labor it had miraculously stayed steady and only slightly high, but after she was born every reading was high. I commented several times about this to my nurse and was dismissed every time. Two days came and went very quickly and before I knew it, we were being discharged. That morning, I voiced all of my concerns to my doctor and was rebuffed. Even an hour before discharge I asked for the doctor to come in one more time but instead, she sent the nurse to tell me my swelling, high bp, and feeling frantic was normal. So home we went and we had a beautiful first day and typical sleepless first night. That morning though, I knew something was wrong. When nursing Sydney, I started seeing shining auras and my vision was spotty. i immediately started to panic because I knew this was a classic symptom of pre-e. I called my doctor’s line and was told to “lie down for 10 minutes”. When I pushed that this was more serious, my doctor reluctantly (and clearly annoyed) told me to head back to Labor & Delivery Triage. Thank goodness the hospital was only a few minutes away because when we got there the on call doctor and nurses were shocked at how high my BP was. I had other classic symptoms as well: Feeling of frantic-ness/unable to think clearly, exaggerated reflexes, and when my labs came back it showed that not only did I still have too much protein in my urine, but now my liver enzymes were elevated. They immediately admitted me and put me on Mag- and there I stayed for over 24 hours. I was fortunate enough to be able to have my husband and baby stay with me and was able to continue nursing (though nursing while on the mag was not fun and required extra help). The whole experience was terrifying and overwhelming. Prior to being pregnant I was a healthy and active 29 year old and even during pregnancy, I continued to work out and do prenatal yoga- How did this happen?
I was also shocked by how little they know about pre-eclampsia. It’s so frustrating not knowing how or why this happens to women.
I would love to become involved with your work with pre-eclampsia and the Promise Walk. More awareness and research needs to be dedicated to this awful disease that plagues 5-8% of all pregnant women. Please let me know how I can help!!
Thanks!
Jill