Darlington students and faculty joined the community in supporting the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk this year in memory of Mary Alice Babcock, who died when she was a Darlington eighth grader. According to the Rome News-Tribune, around 200 people gathered at Regions Bank in Rome on Valentine's Day for the 204 Floyd County American Heart Walk.
The paper told the story of Mary Alice Babcock, in whose memory the walk was held this year. Mary Alice, who would have been a Darlington senior this year, collapsed and died suddenly during a basketball game in 2000. No one knew at the time she had a heart defect.
Mary Alice's mother, Lucy Babcock, Darlington Lower School second grade teacher, her family, and a large group from Darlington, including Katelyn Dellinger, Leigh Lathem, Mary Beth Monk, Neal Brown, Mary Sue Barron, Ben Beville, Charla Brewster, Terri Watters, Gayle Monk, and others, braved the cold and rain Saturday to make the walk. “The rain quit just as we started the walk and it started back after we finished the course,” Babcock said. “After announcements and releasing balloons, we led the pack of about walkers out of Regions Bank parking lot and through the course. After a couple of miles, I was ready to hop on the motorcycle of our police escort, Mike Simmons.”
Lower School Principal Mark Tayloe allowed his students and faculty to have a “Wear Red Day” on Feb. 13. Anyone donating $5 could wear red tops and blue jeans on Friday to honor Mary Alice’s memory. In two days the Lower School raised over $2,200, which was donated to the American Heart Association, Will Mathis, a student in Babcock’s second grade class, raised $105 by himself, and Will and his mother, Sharon, showed up on Saturday morning to walk. “I was touched by his enthusiasm and support,” Babcock said.
The Middle School usually sells hearts to raise money for the American Heart Association in Mary Alice’s memory. Seniors Katelyn Dellinger and Leigh Lathem raised funds on the Upper School campus and encouraged students to participate in the walk. “I am very grateful to Leigh and Katelyn and the others from Upper School who took part for trying to organize and rally around Mary Alice,” Babcock said.
“Although the holidays are a difficult time to ask for funds for the Heart Walk, I was delighted with the number of businesses and groups that offered their help,” she said. “The goal was $40,000, up from $28,000 last year, and with a lot of hard work we met that goal. I was truly moved by the number of people at the Heart Walk who spoke to me about Mary Alice and her sudden death. Rome is a great place to live, and I value the love and support that her citizens have for this community and its members.”
Fifty-one percent of the walk's proceeds will remain in Floyd County to fund education and outreach programs such as AED placement, CPR in schools, Friends and Family CPR, EMS training, and Search Your Heart (a faith-based program that targets African-Americans and Hispanics, two ethnic groups who are at a much higher risk of developing heart disease). The remainder will go to the American Heart Association for research.
