The March of Dimes is a voluntary health charity founded in 1938 by United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis to defeat polio, a disease which crippled him. The name March of Dimes was coined by entertainer Eddie Cantor, a play on the newsreel The March of Time. Cantor was a major early promoter of the charity. The name was officially changed in 1979, though it had been commonly informally used for 40 years. The idea was to raise money from school-children and others who would contribute dimes (10 cents) to the cause. For that reason, Roosevelt is on the U.S. dime.

With the success of the campaign against polio, (both Jonas Salk's and Albert Sabin's research were funded in part by the March of Dimes) the organization, rather than declaring victory and going out of business, has chosen since 1958 to use its charitable infrastructure to serve mothers, infants and children by preventing premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality.

Several provincial organizations in Canada which similarly began as part of the campaign to eradicate polio are also known as the March of Dimes; they all belong to the Easter Seals March of Dimes National Council. They are not affiliated with the American organization.

The largest of the Canadian organizations is Ontario March of Dimes, which today provides services to adults with physical disabilities and with post-polio syndrome (its official name is Rehabilitation Foundation for the Disabled). In 2001 the Royal Canadian Mint issued a dime commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of Ontario March of Dimes.

External links

• March of Dimes home page (http://www.marchofdimes.com/)
• Ontario March of Dimes home page (http://www.dimes.on.ca)