Premature babies are more at risk for having developmental delays and requiring some sort of early intervention services. Better educated and supported parents in the beginning, often lead to better outcomes for babies. This project got off the ground thanks to the United Way of Central Carolina's Leading the Way Team.

This project consists of monthly dinners at the hospital for parents to have a free meal, a guest speaker that will talk about important matters to these families, and tons of resources that are provided to these families that include a care notebook (to track the progress of the baby), Arc information and community resource info. These dinners also give parents a chance to speak with other parents that are going through similar situations. These dinners take place during the hour of the nurse shift change, when parents cannot be with their babies. These dinners allow for the families to not have to go too far from their loved one and get access to some much needed support.

How can you help???

We will be needing these supplies ongoing:

• Baby items such as bibs, onesies, rattles, etc.
• Gift cards to to retail stores to raffle off as door prizes
• Food donations for our monthly dinners
• VOLUNTEERS to help with the monthly dinners to make this project a success!

Please contact Francine Patton at 704-332-4535 ext. 101 or for additional information or questions.