They Walked to Honor and Give Thanks

Casey and Jose Ponce kicked off the season of thanks and giving early, before the holiday season began this month or the calendar indicated it was marked Prematurity Awareness Month. For the couple, it is partly a matter of doing the math. They say that in the end the love you give is equal to the love you receive, and in the case of Hackensack Meridian Health, the couple has received so much compassionate expert care and love from the team that took care of their four children when they were born at Hackensack University Hospital, that they continue to give back and pay it forward to the Neonatology Intensive Care Unit at the hospital.

“It is very meaningful for us to give back, and not just because we want to say thank you, and we can’t say thank you enough” says Casey Dahl-Ponce. “It’s that we want to make a difference in the lives of other NICU families. We get to do this while honoring the people who cared for our children.”
And so that is why recently, family and friends came from throughout the eastern coast, from as far away as Florida, to help the Dahl and Ponce families be among the families who raised more than $43,000 dollars at the annual NICUSTRONG walk. This year’s total brings the total of money raised since the walk began eight years ago for the NICU to more than half a million dollars.

“We had a total of 75 family members and friends join us this year,” says Casey.
The quadruples - Serena, Aaron, Maverick and Penelope - are now 3 ½ years old and they walked alongside the team - the largest of the 49, 2025 teams - that took part in the event because they were cared for in the NICU.

“It’s our fourth year doing the event and for us it is like a reunion,” says Casey. “I love seeing the nurses and the doctors that took care of my babies when I couldn’t.
Combined, the Ponce babies' time in the intensive care unit ranged from 90 days to 117 days. If you were to add up each of their individual stays they would total 317.

The NICU team really is the best team. They really have the best village caring for children, and it’s been great to know that my children were and are so loved.”

Lisa Eiland, MD, lead of Neonatalogy, at Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, can not say thank you enough to all the families who came out this year to Van Saun Park in Paramus for this year’s walk.
At the walk Dr. Eiland shared that the funds raised at the walk have funded innovative treatment, technology, equipment, such as a new state-of-the-art ultrasound machine that makes it possible for NICU doctors to expedite diagnoses and patient care decisions. The technology is also a critical addition to Hackensack’s research into the use of lung ultrasound to improve diagnosis of and treatment of respiratory issues in babies in the NICU. NICUSTRONG continues to fund the Beads of Courage program and literacy initiative, “Reach Out and Read.” Other funding projects include the purchase of life-like manikins to facilitate professional development for nurses, social programs for parents and the March of Dimes Family Support Program which serves NICU families.
“Look at what we have accomplished together since 2018,” Dr. Eiland says. “All of the funds we have raised together help us transform care for our NICU babies and their families.”