November is Prematurity Awareness Month at the March of Dimes and the ladies of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority’s Chi Pi Zeta Chapter showed their support by hosting a 5K run/walk Nov. 13 beginning and ending at the Liberty County Courthouse.
A premature or preterm baby is a baby born before the 37th week of pregnancy. An average pregnancy is 40 weeks. Babies born too soon can have lifelong or life-threatening health problems. Premature babies are often also low-birth weight (weighing less than 5 and a half pounds). Many premature babies spend weeks or even months in a neonatal intensive care unit after birth. While premature babies can grow up healthy, others have lifelong disabilities such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, learning problems, chronic breathing problems, vision and hearing loss. Half of all nervous system disabilities in children stem from premature birth.
The ladies of Chi Pi Zeta raised more than $600 to donate to the March of Dimes in their quest to continue to educate women on the importance of healthy pregnancies. The run/walk organizers said they were thankful to all their sponsors: March of Dimes, the members of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. currently serving in Iraq, Comprehensive OB/GYN Health Center, the ladies of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.-Hinesville Alumnae Chapter, Atlantic Foot & Ankle Specialist, McDonald’s, Road ID.com, Food Lion and all the runner and walkers. 
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. was founded Jan. 16, 1920 on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C. by five women who departed from the traditional coalitions to establish a new organization based on four principles: scholarship, service, sisterly love and finer womanhood. The local chapter, Chi Pi Zeta, was chartered May 19, 2009 in Midway at the historic Dorchester Academy. Chi Pi Zeta was duly accredited as a graduate chapter by six women of the sorority.
For more information on prematurity awareness, go to www.marchofdimes.com and for information on the local chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., go to www.chipizeta.org.