CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

Heather Spohr, a Brentwood mother who charmed readers of her blog nationwide as she chronicled her journey with her prematurely born daughter, was among 11,000 who participated in a March of Dimes benefit walk Saturday at Exposition Park to help prevent premature births.

The tragic story of baby Madeline Alice Spohr spread across the Internet on April 7 when the sassy, 17-month-old, blue-eyed girl -- the Spohrs’ only child -- died unexpectedly after being rushed to the hospital with respiratory problems.

Hundreds of bloggers across the country had followed Spohr’s entries about Madeline since before the girl’s premature birth. When they found out about the child’s death, they used their blogs and other social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to rally around the Spohrs. They organized food deliveries and funeral preparations.

More than 1,000 of Madeline’s Internet followers -- most who had never met her or the Spohr family -- donated nearly $50,000 to the March of Dimes, a nonprofit organization the Spohr family champions. They also formed nearly 50 March of Dimes walkathon teams in dozens of states, including Alabama, Florida, Michigan and Texas.

-- Esmeralda Bermudez