Spina bifida benefit seeks volunteers

There are more than 700 adults and children in the tri-state area living with spina bifida, according to the Spina Bifida Association.

The Spina Bifida Association of the Tri-State Region, which covers New Jersey, metropolitan New York ad southern Connecticut, is a nonprofit agency based in central New Jersey with a mission to help those in the area who are living with spina bifida through extensive in-home and at-school social services, skill-building programs and recreational opportunities. The association also seeks to educate the public about the disease and the role folic acid plays in its prevention, according to Lisa Marie Arieno, the marketing and events coordinator for the Spina Bifida Association of the Tri-State Region.

The association's upcoming Golf Challenge fundraiser will assist families in the tri-state region with extraordinary medical expenses; provide programs for teens and young adults; educate teachers and medical professionals; bring families together in a network for learning and sharing; and educate the general public about prevention by regularly taking a B vitamin with folic acid.

The Spina Bifida Association of the Tri-State Region seeks golfers who are interested in playing for charity, as well as volunteers to work at its annual Golf Challenge at the Forsgate Country Club in Monroe on April 30.

Spina bifida is America's most frequently occurring, permanently disabling birth defect, affecting seven out of 10,000 newborns in the United States. This birth defect occurs in the womb during the first month of pregnancy - a time when most women do not yet know they are pregnant, and results in an incomplete closure of the baby's spinal column, according to the Spina Bifida Association.

According to the Spina Bifida Association, a B vitamin with folic acid can prevent up to 70 percent of incidents of spina bifida if taken before and during pregnancy.

For more information on playing, volunteering or sponsoring the golf challenge, call (908) 782-7475 or visit www.sbatsr.org.