The March of Dimes is a non-profit health charity that raises funds to fight birth defects and infant mortality. It promotes awareness and education among mothers and families, runs community services and workshops, and funds research. Originally founded to fight polio, the organization has since expanded its mission to fight birth defects. The March for Children is one of its annual fundraising events.
The March of Dimes is the name of an annual charity event sponsored by the organization of the same name. The fundraiser, now called the March for Children, is an annual march to raise funds to help fight birth defects and infant mortality. The organization is a non-profit health charity geared towards improving the health of children.
Today, the March of Dimes is one of the largest and most successful nonprofit organizations in the United States. It relies on contributions to further its goals, including those raised through events such as the March for Children. In fundraisers like these, participants walk through set amounts for pledges of money and contributions from others to the foundation.
The organization uses its status as a health charity to promote awareness and education among mothers and families. It teaches about prenatal and infant care and seeks to educate mothers and caregivers about preventing birth defects. This group runs community services and workshops and spreads knowledge about the possibilities of infant mortality. The foundation also funds research around the world, donating tens of millions of dollars to scientists in the fields of research on birth defects, prenatal health and genetics.
The organization was started in 1938 as a non-profit fighting the onslaught of what was then a serious and deadly disease, especially for children: polio. The disease, once known as infantile paralysis but better known as polio, had afflicted thousands across the country, leaving many paralyzed and many more dead. The disease caused 6,000 deaths in 1916 in 26 states, many of them children under the age of five.
“March of Dimes” was originally just the name of the foundation-sponsored charity march. An original radio ad asked listeners to donate just one cent to help the cause. The organization soon began to be known by its own event and its name was eventually officially changed. The polio vaccine was discovered in 1955, however, which means the original goal had been achieved.
Three years later, the foundation decided to continue in the health charity arena. After battling a disease that afflicted children so severely, the foundation decided on a new mission: to fight birth defects. In the 21st century, using an outreach and education program, supporting scientists including 10 Nobel Prize winners, and garnering contributions from every corner of the country, the March of Dimes still has a lot of work to do.
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