PRESS RELEASE

Date Submitted: July 11, 2005

Tiny Miracles To Celebrate 2005 “Carnival Of Life”

The Tiny Miracles Foundation, Inc. (TTMF), is gearing up to host its second annual "Carnival of Life" Fundraiser. The family event features a beachside barbeque, live entertainment including Pongo the Clown, Ringo Music, Party Safari, Alex and the Kaleidoscope Band and a variety of children's activities, including Hands on Pottery, pony rides, face painting, bouncy castles, and carnival games. There will also be a silent auction offering an array of family-friendly offerings.

TTMF is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to helping families with premature infants in Fairfield County. The organization was founded in 2003 by two local mothers who had each given birth to severely premature twins several years earlier. Dismayed by the lack of support services geared towards parents coping with the crisis of a premature birth, yet tremendously grateful for the informal emotional support they received from several local preemie families, the women decided to create a network to connect parents coping with the premature birth of their baby with parents who had previously lived through the experience. TTMF is now made up of dozens of local parents who have personally endured the trauma of a premature birth and who are available to mentor other parents during what is often described as one of the most frightening and difficult experiences of their lives.

Proceeds from the Carnival of Life will help fund TTMF's programs, which offer emotional support, information and supplies to the families of premature infants during and immediately following their hospitalization in area neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). In addition to the Parent Support Network and mentoring programs, which are available to all parents of premature infants who live in or have had children hospitalized in Fairfield County, TTMF operates a Resource Room at Stamford Hospital, adjacent to the NICU. The Resource Room is a comfortable and private setting for parents to learn about issues relating to premature birth, gain inspiration from stories and photos of families who have had a baby in the NICU, meet with TTMF mentors, or connect with other NICU families.

In May, TTMF launched its "Tiny Treasures" Program that provides families with welcome gifts when their baby is admitted to the NICU and home-care starter kits, which contain essential and often hard-to-find preemie-related supplies, when their baby is ready to transition home. In addition, TTMF maintains a website that provides a multitude of valuable information and inspirational materials to parents all over the world.

Currently the Resource Room and "Tiny Treasures" Programs are up and running at Stamford Hospital. Plans are underway to expand these programs to Norwalk Hospital over the next year, and eventually to the other three Fairfield County NICUs as funding and resources permit. TTMF is also in the process of developing additional programs to assist needy families during and immediately after their babies' hospitalization and to help enhance the family-centered care and services offered by area NICUs.

The Carnival of Life will be held on Sunday, September 18, 2005 at Wee Burn Beach Club, 7 Anchor Road, Rowayton, Connecticut, from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Attendance is by invitation only, and over 200 families from the greater Fairfield County area are expected. More information about the event or The Tiny Miracles Foundation and its services may be obtained at www.ttmf.org or by calling (203) 202-9714.

For information concerning this Press Release, please contact:
Eila Johnson - Press Relations
The Tiny Miracles Foundation
25-13 Old King's Highway N.
Darien, CT 06820
(203) 202-9714
info@ttmf.org
www.ttmf.org

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