Mike Morgan, General Manager for Volkswagen Billings, visits young babies at the March of Dimes Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
It is Volkswagen Billings' mission to raise $40,000 for March of Dimes for Babies!
Click Here to learn how you can help!About March of Dimes!
- The March of Dimes was established by FDR to fight polio.- The mission focus was shifted to premature birth and birth defects.
- Research breakthroughs have helped save thousands of babies.
A president's cause changed babies' lives forever
President Franklin Roosevelt's personal struggle with polio led him to create the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis at a time when polio was on the rise. Better known as the March of Dimes, the foundation established a polio patient aid program and funded research for vaccines developed by Jonas Salk, MD and Albert Sabin, MD. These vaccines effectively ended epidemic polio in the United States.Preventing birth defects
Its original mission accomplished, the foundation turned its focus to preventing birth defects and infant mortality. The March of Dimes has led the way to discover the genetic causes of birth defects, to promote newborn screening, and to educate medical professionals and the public about best practices for healthy pregnancy. We have supported research for surfactant therapy to treat respiratory distress and helped initiate the system of regional neonatal intensive care for premature and sick babies. Our recent Folic Acid Campaign achieved a dramatic reduction in the incidence of neural tube defects, birth defects of the brain and spine.