TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — You can help babies in the newborn intensive care unit, or NICU, during NICU Awareness month.
In a lead-up to the month, Terre Haute Mayor Duke Bennett proclaimed September 30 as NICU Awareness Day in Terre Haute.
Project Sweet Peas, a non-profit, encourages people to help raise awareness by changing outside lights to the color green.
You can also take part in Project Sweet Peas’ T-shirt fundraiser which will help raise money for care packages at Union Hospital in Terre Haute.
The non-profit’s director of Volunteer Services, Kelcey Farr-Tonika said she was inspired by her daughter who spent 33-days in the NICU when she was born.
“A lot of people never get to meet their hero, and I got to give birth to mine because she’s such a strong individual and she’s survived so much that I wish I could trade places with her somedays because she went through so many different doctors, pokes and so many things like that,” said Farr-Tonika.
“She was 2 pounds, 11 ounces, and had a condition called intrauterine growth restriction so she was smaller than average and she was born at 35 weeks and two days and while I had a great support system and lots of resources available to me personally, there are lots of families out there that do not have that.”
You can learn more about Project Sweet Peas and their fundraiser here. You can select Terre Haute as the area you want to support.
