March of Dimes Foundation

March of Dimes Foundation, American charitable organization dedicated to preventing childhood diseases, birth defects, and premature births and to reducing infant mortality. It was founded as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938 by U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, who envisioned a national crusade to find a cure for infantile paralysis, or polio, a disease he had been stricken with in 1921. The phrase “March of Dimes” was later coined as part of a campaign to encourage radio listeners to send their dimes to the White House. Ultimately, funding from the March of Dimes supported the work of Jonas Salk, who developed a vaccine for polio in the 1950s, and Albert Sabin, who later produced an oral polio vaccine. In 1979 the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis changed its name to the March of Dimes Foundation.

The March of Dimes provides grants for scientific research on childhood diseases and disorders and maintains educational and informational services for parents of infants and young children. It also lobbies for national policies to improve child health, such as newborn screening for congenital disorders and universal access to health insurance for children and for women of childbearing age.

The March of Dimes is funded through individual and corporate donations and numerous annual fund-raising events, many of which involve celebrities. Its headquarters are in White Plains, N.Y.