Countywide : March of Dimes Plans WalkAmerica

The March of Dimes hopes to draw up to 6,000 people this month to its annual Orange County WalkAmerica event to combat birth defects.

Participants collect donation pledges for the 12-mile walk, which will begin this year from locations in Huntington Beach, Irvine and Dana Point on April 25. The WalkAmerica campaign is the March of Dimes’ biggest fund-raising event, event director Karilyn Merritt said. The average walker collects about $125 in sponsorships before the walk. Officials hope to raise about $600,000 this year from Orange County and $58 million nationwide.

The money raised in Orange County will be spent locally to fund research into birth defects and premature births, public education and community service programs.

This year’s WalkAmerica event will begin at 7 a.m. at the Magnolia Street entrance to Huntington State Beach, at William R. Mason Regional Park in Irvine and at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point. Walkers may call the March of Dimes’ Costa Mesa office at (714) 631-8700 to be mailed a sponsor sign-up sheet, Merritt said.

So far, more than 300 local corporations and 70 schools have signed up teams for the walk, she said.