VIDALIA — Miss-Lou residents gathered on the Vidalia Riverfront Saturday to rally for a cause — ending premature birth.

The March of Dimes’ River Cities March for Babies was on the riverfront, and participants walked a loop starting and ending at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center.

The March for Babies is a fundraiser for the March of Dimes, and the 75 walkers raised approximately $9,320, River Cities Chair Jennifer Freeman said.

The funds raised will be used to further March of Dimes research into finding the cause of and preventing premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality.

State Director of the Louisiana Chapter of the March of Dimes Frankie Robertson was herself a premature baby and has had a family member die of sudden infant death syndrome, so she appreciates the work done by the organization, she said.

“Everything we do, we do from the heart,” she said.

Holly Birley, the mother this year’s poster child for the event, Jenna Birley, also thanked the March of Dimes for their work.

Jenna was born at 27 weeks gestation, weighing 1 pound, 11 ounces. The normal gestation period is 40 weeks.

Jenna’s twin sister, Jayden, died two days after birth.

“We are grateful for what they do, so nobody will have to go through what we went through,” Holly Birley said.

March of Dimes walker Garrett Henson, who was on the river walk as a member of the Vidalia Junior High Beta club’s March for Babies team, said he definitely saw the importance of the event.

“It’s just to help babies to have just as good a life as us,” he said.