Feet on the Street

by Teresa Royer
Member Relations Specialist

Mike Ball, Division Director of the March of Dimes educated me on the history of their organization a few weeks ago. I’m sure many of you are aware of their origins, and how they earned their name. For those of you that are not, such as me; you may find this very interesting.

While FDR was President, we all know he had been stricken with polio and the disease was spreading fast. A single person started mailing in dimes to Washington as an effort to help FDR and others followed; as many people could identify with polio. They were sympathetic and wanted to do something about it! The health administration in Washington organized a foundation to eradicate it. Donation cards were created and sent out with several inserted dime-sized slots; citizens were encouraged to fill the slots with dimes and mail back to the foundation -- thus The March of Dimes.

The March of Dimes funded Jonas Salk’s research --over time Dr. Salk’s research and the March of Dimes’ funding paid off -- their mission was successfully completed – to find a cure for polio! Now they needed to find a new need and mission they could address.
Today the March of Dimes mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. I was amazed by some of the stats Mike shared with me of how one of their many services, education goes a long way to completing their mission ---- knowledge is definitely power!

BTW, how many remember getting vaccinated for polio?