BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It's the 22nd Great Baby Beginnings event, the biggest fundraiser for the Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network.
"It is an opportunity," said LuAnne Brown, CEO of BPPN. "It's our major fundraiser...and every year it's gotten bigger."
It's a night of celebration and support. Giving awards to local caregivers and working toward their fundraising goal of $55,000, which they hope to raise through the event's ticket sales, raffles and auctions.
WATCH: 'Lasting impact': Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network sets $55,000 fundraising goal to help families
But how do they use that money?
"Our goal really is to help every one of our moms have a healthy delivery," said Brown. "We're making sure they're going to their prenatal appointments, we're doing education with them."
Go Buffalo Mom is one of their programs that gets women bus passes or cabs to appointments. That program just got hit with cuts to funding.
"Your support isn’t just changing lives— it’s having lasting impact," their case for support reads.
And it's not just transportation.
"It's very different when you walk into a house or an apartment and you see the 8-month pregnant mom lying on the floor because she doesn't have a bed....Or you open up the fridge and there's no food. The grants don't buy beds," said Brown.
It's also not just moms. They have a program specifically for fathers.
"It was transcendent for my life. I've had some of these fellas on their own time show up at my door, pour into me, pour into my family," said Michael Williams, who now works in that program.
Brown says the work they do is actually saving millions of dollars.
"It's always better to do preventative programs like ours," said Brown. "Every time a baby ends up in the intensive care nursery, national averages say that's a $65,000 cost...when you look at our numbers and how many moms we deliver full term, we save between $4-7 million."
If you want to get involved, support or learn more, click here.
