Coastal Carolina University will host this year’s Horry County March for Babies to benefit the March of Dimes Saturday, April 30, at Brooks Stadium. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., followed by an awards ceremony for top-raising teams and individuals and the walk at 9:30 a.m.

More than 9,500 babies in South Carolina are born premature each year. The March of Dimes funds research to reduce the number of premature births and provides comfort and information to families with infants in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Grayson Romano, the 2011 Horry County Ambassador, was born 13? weeks early at 1 pound, 8 ounces. Romano is healthy today, after spending 113 days in the NICU at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, N.C.

March for Babies is the March of Dimes’ biggest fundraising event. Participants in the 3-mile walk through campus will raise money to support the research, education, advocacy and grants for programs that improve infant and maternal health in South Carolina. Terri DeCenzo, First Lady of CCU, and Jim Apple, president and CEO of Burroughs & Chapin Co. are co-chairs of the event.

Registration can be done – and donations can be made – online prior to the event at www.marchforbabies.org. To join the President’s Team, sign up at www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1448941. To start your own team with a club, business or group of friends, call Crystal Hummer, executive director of Horry County March of Dimes, at 843-488-3463.

For additional information, call Hummer or Jenna Jazwinski, assistant director of special events at CCU, at 843-349-2040.