A week ago I met an amazing lady by the name of Yolanda DeMello. Her tragic story of the loss of their beautiful daughter, Josephine, to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) was something that left me numb. Not really having a full understanding of SIDS, she quickly educated me. SIDS is the leading cause of death among infants 1 month to 1 year old, and claims the lives of about 2,500 infants each year in the United States. It remains unpredictable despite years of research. 
On March 10th of 2008 Yolanda received a call at work from the police informing her that her 6th month old precious baby girl had unexpectedly died of SIDS while sleeping at the babysitters. This tragic event left her devastated, but she stayed strong and through her faith she was able to move on and founded The Josephine DeMello SIDS Foundation. This 501(c)(3) organization was formed to educate families and bring awareness in the community about the number one cause of death of infants in their first year of life. The foundation has a first response team and provides support to all those victims of SIDS. It raises funds through events and public donations to help fund burial expenses and the much needed research that goes into finding the answers to put an end to SIDS. 
After speaking with Yolanda and hearing her story I felt compelled to help support her and her cause in any way possible. I joined her this week on two radio station appearances in hopes to get people to come out and support her 5K walk this Saturday. The first appearance was on the Rico & Mambo's Morning Show on Q-104.7, and the second on B95.1 with Bo in the morning. The event will take place at 8:30am at the Constitution Park located off of Carmen Drive in Camarillo. There will be live entertainment, a fabulous raffle, lots of booths, and great food provided by Johnny Rockets in Camarillo. I am so excited to be a part of this event and I encourage everyone else to join in too. So come on out and join me and help raise awareness for SIDS!
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