A March of Dimes poster is proudly displayed near the entrance of the Martell Kmart. Last week, an unidentified person stole a collection of money that has been kept inside Kmart for the organization which helps struggling infants. Photo by: Scott Thomas Anderson

There were tears in the eyes of some employees when they heard the news.

For years, the Martell Kmart has been the No. 1 store in its district for raising money for March of Dimes, a charity that works to promote the health of struggling babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Nationally, Kmart has raised more than $71 million for March of Dimes over the last 25 years. The Kmart employees in Martell have become increasingly proud of their ability to step up, along with their customers, and give their store a significant role in that mission.

Last week, the revelation that an unknown person had walked into Kmart and stolen a large cash collection for March of Dimes left many of the store's workers stunned and speechless.

On Tuesday, Kmart's management confirmed to the Ledger Dispatch that the container of money - an Alhambra water jug clearly marked as belonging to the March of Dimes, which may have contained more than $500 - had been stolen from an area on the sales floor, though they declined to give further details regarding the incident.

"That's pretty bad that someone would even think to do that," said one employee on the sales floor, who did not want to be named because she was discussing the matter on company time. "It's hard to believe, but it happened."

Hard to believe, perhaps, because March of Dimes is one of the most respected children's charities in the entire country. Founded in 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the March of Dimes sought to halt the huge waves of babies who were being killed by polio. Roosevelt, himself crippled by polio, believed infant mortality was becoming a crisis because of the thousands of lives polio was taking. Through fund-raising for medical research, March of Dimes finally succeeded in helping to beat the disease.

Today, with its triumph over polio as inspiration, the organization has targeted stopping all major causes of birth defects, infant paralysis and infant death. The current March of Dimes mission statement is "to give all babies a fighting chance" through funding "research, community services, education and advocacy."

Currently, March of Dimes is attempting to help the more than 9 million children without medical insurance get checkups, immunizations and treatment for childhood illness. It's also funding genetic research to try to determine how to stop genetic birth defects that leave babies unable to walk, hear, see or have healthy brain and immunity function. Searching out the causes of pre-mature births, of which there are 525,000 a year, is also something March of Dimes puts considerable resources into.

Speaking on her time off, Kmart employee Kristi Williams told the Ledger Dispatch the theft caught workers completely off-guard. "We didn't think we had to lock the container down because for years we've never had a problem leaving it out in that very place," she said. "It's mind-blowing that someone would steal from a helpless baby."

Williams added that the national corporate drive to raise money will end May 9 - a date that would now come too soon for the store to raise the target amount it was hoping for.

Another employee, who did not give her name because she was working when interviewed, said Tuesday that March of Dimes is extremely important to her and her co-workers. "A lot of employees put their own money into that container," she acknowledged. "And so did a lot of very generous people from this community. We're sad and we're really angry about this." She also said employees appreciated March of Dimes because it reaches out to directly help families in Amador County. "This is a charity that's been there for struggling infants in our community," she said. "The fact that someone would choose to put their own needs ahead of those little babies is as low as it gets."

Anyone with information about the missing money can call management at the Martell Kmart at 223-4910.