The March for Babies kick-off was held in the Ballroom of Sacramento State’s University Union Tuesday at noon.

President Alexander Gonzalez was the chair for this event and encouraged students to take action and get involved in the community.

“They provide education and awareness for expectant families. When a family has a premature birth, they provide support,” said senior public relations major Sean Johnson.

Johnson, the campaign director for the Sac State team, said the cause is special to him because his own son was born two-months premature. While in the hospital with his son, he saw two IV tubes feeding him. That was the inspiration for the pink and purple ribbons being passed out to students on campus.

“We want to get as many students out there as possible and just as president Gonzalez said, the more bodies we have, the more power we have,” Johnson said.

The March for Babies is a walk held on Saturday, April 26, at the State Capitol. Registration for the event begins at 7:30 a.m. The walk starts at 9 a.m.

The three-mile route runs through Old Sacramento and back to the capital building.

“We are trying to get a lot of teams built on campus,” said junior communications major Molly Okumura. “Our goal is over 50 teams and we are actually nearing that right now. We want there to be a huge Sacramento State presence: students, faculty, staff and the rest of the community.”

Okumura is the Community Outreach Director for the Sacramento State team.

To build more awareness for the cause, students in Timothy Lent Howard’s communication and public relations and management course worked with the organization on campaign efforts.

“We have about 50 students that are participating in it and the idea is to give our students an experiential learning setting. I have taken academic theories and applied them to real time experiences in the field,” said Howard.

President Gonzalez saw The March for Babies as a great opportunity for students to learn and engage with the community by reaching out to Sac State faculty.

“I jumped on the opportunity to be able to give our students not only the experience, but practicing their trade, but also the experience of knowing and having empathy. I think having a charitable side and being involved in the community and giving back is important,” Howard said.

Students in Howard’s class said this was a good cause and are are using their skills in public relations to motivate the rest of campus to get involved.

“This class is incredible because it’s hands-on campaigning. We are doing real work. It is experiential learning and not every program has it,” said public relations senior Tyler Smith.