GIVE KIDS A SMILE GRANT RECIPIENTS HONORED AT ANNUAL GALA
COSTA MESA, CALIF., MAY 2010 — Five grant recipients of the GIVE KIDS A SMILE® Program Growth Fund were honored at the third American Dental Association Foundation Give Kids A Smile Awards Gala held on April 13, 2010 at the Decatur House on Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. For the third year in a row, CareCredit’s annual $100,000 donation to the Fund has enabled five key programs to expand services and access to care for children in underserved communities.
The Hispanic Dental Association, National Dental Association and Oral Health America were selected to receive 2010 grants to continue to expand the availability of dental care to underserved children. The Hispanic Dental Association is using the funding for outreach programs that identify disadvantaged children and provide preventive services in Los Angeles, Dallas and Boston. The National Dental Association is enhancing the Deamonte Driver Dental Project which provides oral health education through local health fairs and connects vulnerable children with a network of volunteer dentists. And Oral Health America’s grant will support local Smiles Across America programs in California, Minnesota and Nevada, expanding children’s access to dental care through local schools.
Additionally, two $15,000 Program Champion grants were awarded to established national oral health programs. The first, America’s Dentists Care Foundation (Missions of Mercy), has helped more than 100,000 patients and has provided over $50 million in free dental services since its inception in 2000. The second, TeamSmileTM, uses the popularity and power of professional and collegiate sports partnerships to bring patients in need together with dental professionals and volunteers.
“In every community across the country, there are children who have limited or no access to dental care. These children have oral infections that may be impacting their ability to sleep, eat and learn. The 2010 grant recipients are established programs that have been proven to positively affect access to care of children in need,” said Cindy Hearn, GIVE KIDS A SMILE Advisory Board Member and Senior Vice President of Marketing at CareCredit. “CareCredit is pleased to be able to help all the grant recipients expand access to care to underserved children by continuing our role as Founding Donor of the GIVE KIDS A SMILE Program Growth Fund.”
Today, CareCredit is offered by more than 85,000 dental teams. CareCredit is exclusively selected for their members by most state and national dental associations, including ADA Business ResourcesSM, AGD, AAOMS, and AAP, and is also recommended by leading practice management consultants. For more information on CareCredit, call 1-800-300-3046 ext. 4519 or visit www.carecredit.com. Information on the GIVE KIDS A SMILE program can be found at www.givekidsasmile.ada.org.
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