Come join a fun filled evening at Market Square in downtown Knoxville and help premature and critically ill babies born in the region in their fight for a healthy recovery.
The Hoopla on Market Square event will benefit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at The University of Tennessee Medical Center, a unit the family of Shelby Zoe Smith came to know quite well a few years ago.
Born three months prematurely in 2006, Smith spent the first 100 days of her life in the NICU at the medical center. The family endured some harrowing times as their little girl worked toward recovery. Smith is now turning four and is a healthy, happy little girl. Her family vows to do all it can to help many, many more babies in the East Tennessee region have a successful recovery.
Holding the Hoopla event is one way the family is giving back. The event is Nov. 6 from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. at Latitude 35.
It features popular Knoxville band The Vibraslaps and will raise funds to further advance capabilities provided in the NICU at UT Medical Center, the only facility of its kind in the region offering private rooms for the care of premature and critically ill babies. Smith’s parents, Seth and Millicent, along with her aunt, Stacey Rivers, created Hoopla last year and expect this year’s festivities to be even more fun.
"It is so exciting to once again be able to support the NICU at UT Medical Center with this year's Hoopla event at Latitude 35," Rivers said. "As the program director for the preschool in which Shelby attends, I have the pleasure each day of seeing a little girl that is thriving thanks to the exceptional care given to her at UT Medical Center." 
UT Medical Center’s NICU, which cares for approximately 800 babies each year, opened the private-room facility in 2007. The private rooms and their surroundings are intended to most closely replicate the mother’s womb and lead to quicker recovery for the babies. Currently, approximately half of the NICU is equipped with private rooms. Following a research study of the private-room portion of the unit that indicated swifter recoveries for the babies in those rooms, the medical center is beginning a fundraising campaign to convert the NICU to a private-room facility. Hoopla on Market Square is raising money for that effort.
"High Risk Obstetrical Consultants is proud to support the 2nd annual Hoopla on Market Square,” said Dr. Bobby Howard, of High Risk Obstetrical Consultants and Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UT Medical Center and the UT Graduate School of Medicine. “This event is crucial in our efforts to raise awareness of the risks of preterm births as well as helping raise financial support for the needed renovation of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Since we take care of moms with high risk pregnancies, many of our patient’s babies spend time in the NICU, and we are extremely grateful for the incredible work done there.  We are honored to help in providing a state-of-the-art facility so our babies can receive the care they need in the best possible environment."
Regional Neonatal Associates joins High Risk Obstetric Consultants in sponsoring Hoopla on Market Square. The event includes heavy hors d’oeuvres, drinks and refreshments. Tickets for Hoopla on Market Square are $40 per person. A $100 sponsorship includes two tickets for the event and on-site recognition. Advance registration is required for the special recognition and is suggested for all, by Nov. 1, as space is limited. To register, call (865) 305-6611 or email development@utmck.edu.

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