Real Housewives Team Up With Nisha Spa & Nails to Benefit March of Dimes

Several of The Real Housewives of New Jersey stopped by Thursday afternoon for a charity event benefitting March of Dimes.

Jacqueline Laurita, Melissa Gorga, and Kathy Wakile talked with patrons and viewers as other attendees received manicures. Admission cost $15. All proceeds were donated to March of Dimes. March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies and mothers by preventing premature birth and its side effects.

‘When I was pregnant with my son, C.J., I was on bed rest for months and my cousin had a premature baby,” said Laurita, who has also had several miscarriages. “I took my miscarriages very hard. You start to not enjoy being pregnant after a while and you blame yourself. Something like March of Dimes is so important to help educate women and families about the risk of being born premature.”

Gorga said March of Dimes provides women and families with educational tools and much-needed support during and after their pregnancy.

“This was a win-win for everybody,” said Jacquline Kelley, community director with March of Dimes. “We want not only to educate others about the risks of pre-term birth and its side effects, but to celebrate those babies who were born pre-term who suffered no ill effects.”

Hawthorne resident Kerry Tellez attended the event. She will participate in the March of Dimes annual walk in Mahwah this weekend. Tellez gave birth to premature twins six years ago. They were two pounds at birth. One of them, Alyssa, died when she was 6 weeks old.

“I feel as though I’m doing something to keep her memory alive and doing something to help educate others about the risks of premature birth,” Tellez said. “I wasn’t aware of the risk of premature birth. Now I am and other mothers need to know too.”

Gorga, a mother of three, said that people like her should use their notoriety to help others.

“Anything that has to do with kids and I’m all for it,” Laurita said. “What’s great about something like being on a television show is it gives you the opportunity to share what you care about with a lot of other people. More people who are given that opportunity need to take advantage of it.”