Franklin Roosevelt’s Gubernatorial portrait via Wikimedia Commons
The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis was founded on this day in 1938. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (a victim of polio himself) established this non-profit organization to combat the epidemic mostly affecting infants and children, resulting in paralysis and death.
It is now better known by its name as the March of Dimes. On a joke, comedian Eddie Cantor suggested that people mail their dimes to the White House as a way to support their efforts. And the name has stuck ever since.
The foundation was charged to find the cause and develop a cure for polio, a feat it accomplished in 1955. Dr. Jonas Salk is now a household name associated with the successful polio vaccine.
So the next time you are asked to contribute to a cause that is legitimately trying to end a disease, give. Even if it’s only a dime.
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