WalkAmerica takes steps for healthy babies

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What happens when an organization established to fight a crippling disease actually succeeds? In the March of Dimes' case, that organization breathes a sigh of relief, then embraces new goals and works just as hard to achieve them. The decade was the 1930s. The disease was polio, which robbed its victims, usually children, of muscle strength and control. It spread mostly during warm weather, bringing fear to outdoor summer activities. Those not killed by polio no longer could walk. They faced a grim future of disability marked by leg braces, canes, wheelchairs and iron lungs.

Prevention was the goal of the country's most famous polio victim, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, when he started the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1937. As Roosevelt sought ways average Americans could help pay for polio research, Eddie Cantor, a popular radio comedian, suggested everyone mail a dime to the White House. The response was heartening. Cantor further suggested calling the foundation the March of Dimes, a play on the name of a popular movie newsreel, "The March of Time."

The idea caught on, and the March of Dimes, founded in 1938, was on its way.

Only 17 years later, the Salk vaccine against polio had been developed and proven effective. In succeeding years, Americans were inoculated in large numbers. Polio was defeated. In victory, however, what was to become of the March of Dimes? Its entire reason for being had disappeared.

Thankfully, the group didn't disappear. It redirected its zeal toward another major goal: improving infant health. March of Dimes continued raising money and began paying for research to prevent birth defects, premature births and infant mortality, along with community service, education and advocacy efforts.

In 1970, the group came up with a new fundraising technique. With inflation, the purchasing power of all those dimes had dwindled, so leaders organized the first WalkAmerica. This simple concept has spread across the nation. Teams and individuals solicit pledges and walk a particular distance as a show of solidarity and support for people afflicted by birth defects.

The local March of Dimes WalkAmerica takes place Saturday at Sauk Valley Community College. Organizers have set a goal of $50,880 and invite residents of Whiteside, Lee and Ogle counties to help them achieve it. Walk time is 10 a.m. and walkers will cover a 4.9-mile distance.

The group's mission is as vital today as it was when polio was its foe. According to researchers, premature births, and their associated health problems, have risen more than 30 percent the past 25 years.

This trend must be reversed. By donating to WalkAmerica, everyone can do their part to help mothers have healthier babies. What a great Mother's Day present that would be.