The March of Dimes Florida Chapter was awarded a $2 million grant from the Florida Attorney General’s Office as a result of a settlement with multiple vitamin manufacturers.  In June 2004, as a result of this grant, the March of Dimes partnered with the Florida Department of Health, the Florida Folic Acid Coalition and the Florida Birth Defects Center to promote the use of folic acid in women of reproductive age throughout Florida.  The message of the value of folic acid is incorporated into a larger message promoting good preconception health for women of childbearing age.  To facilitate greater awareness and consumption of folic acid in women of child-bearing age, up to 450,000 multivitamins containing the recommended daily allowance of folic acid (400 micrograms) are being distributed free to non-pregnant women. The vitamins and accompanying educational materials are distributed through various sites throughout the state of Florida.  The sites selected to participate in the project were selected based upon the characteristics of the population served by the site.  The target population for the grant is women of childbearing age who are uninsured or under-served, with particular emphasis placed on reaching women of Hispanic and Haitian origin. 

To date, more than 250,000 bottles of vitamins have been provided to over 200 different programs for distribution at the local level.  These programs represent a variety of service providers, including Family Planning Clinics, WIC Clinics, Healthy Start, Early Head Start and Head Start, Community Health Centers, faith-based organizations, and other for-profit and non-profit providers serving the target population.

The project has a small evaluation component to assess behavior change and knowledge change as a result of the education and free vitamins.  All sites collaborating in distribution of the materials are provided the opportunity to receive free training on preconception health.  The project has been well-supported at the state and local level. 

For more information about the Florida VitaGrant project, contact Project Manager Elizabeth Jensen at ejensen@marchofdimes.com or (850) 245-4465.