WHEREAS, The March of Dimes was established by President Franklin Roosevelt in 1938 to "save America’s youth from polio", and

WHEREAS, The March of Dimes occupies a unique place in American history, providing care for the victims of polio while aggressively working to develop vaccines against it, representing the first large-scale, nationwide biomedical initiative led by a charitable organization, and

WHEREAS, one of the young Americans stricken by polio and directly helped by the March of Dimes organization as a child was our own Commissioner Cliff Thaell, of the Leon County Board of County Commissioners, and

WHEREAS, Cliff Thaell has been asked to serve as Honorary Chairman of the March of Dimes Walk America 2003, the March of Dimes’ largest fundraising event in the North Florida region, and

WHEREAS, the work of the March of Dimes continues, as each year, more than 460,000 babies are born prematurely, and genetic birth defects still leave many children unable to walk, hear, or fight off disease.

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF LEON COUNTY, FLORIDA, that Saturday, April 12, 2003 be hereby declared

in Leon County. We join with Commissioner Thaell and the March of Dimes in their mission to prevent birth defects and educate parents on the importance of nutrition, testing, and pre-natal care in that regard. And be it further resolved that we encourage our entire Leon County family to walk with Commissioner Thaell in support of the March of Dimes Walk America on Saturday, April 12, and we further challenge our counterparts with the City of Tallahassee and the Leon County School Board to march in support of this important cause as well. Let us join together to fight birth defects and premature birth in our community, our country, and throughout the entire world.