CONTACT: Carol S. Weber, APR, Director of Public Relations
PHONE: 414-755-4108 (direct)
E-MAIL: cweber@wda.org
WEST ALLIS, WIS., April 14, 2010 – The Wisconsin Dental Association Foundation has announced $37,700 in grants to 18 programs that bring oral health care to low-income Wisconsin residents and provide other dentistry-related services.
A $3,000 award to the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin will help defray patient laboratory costs. ARCW is located in Milwaukee and serves HIV/AIDS patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Brown County Oral Health Partnership will use its $1,500 grant to purchase dental equipment, instruments, supplies and restorative materials. The organization provides school-based care for low-income children and daytime care for adults with developmental disabilities.
Door County Memorial Hospital Dental Clinic serves as a dental home for many low-income area residents. A $1,000 foundation grant will help purchase new equipment.
Good Neighbor Clinic of Sauk Prairie will get $1,000 toward basic dental supplies. It serves people of all ages with annual incomes within 200 percent of federal poverty level guidelines, including those without insurance and who don’t qualify for government medical assistance programs.
Staffed by volunteer dentists, HealthNet of Janesville Inc. serves low-income and uninsured residents of Rock County. A $2,000 foundation grant will go toward purchase of basic supplies.
Healthy Smiles for Portage County “Seal-A-Smile” targets some 875 area second graders. A $1,000 grant will help cover sealant supplies, toothbrushes, educational brochures and program transportation costs.
Healthy Smiles for Wood County will use a $1,000 WDA Foundation grant to purchase dental supplies and education materials for its cavity-prevention program.
Jefferson County Community Dental Clinic will apply $2,500 in grant money toward operating expenses and necessary supplies. The clinic and its volunteer dentists provide dental care to low-income residents, 60 percent of whom are children.
Junior League of Eau Claire Inc. helps provide preventive services for qualifying second graders in Eau Claire County. A $250 foundation grant will defray costs associated with educational and dental supplies, dental sealant material, toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Rawhide Boys Ranch, a nonprofit, residential care center in New London, Wis. dedicated to changing the lives of troubled teen boys, will use its $2,500 award to purchase personal oral hygiene supplies and necessary dental care for its young residents.
A $1,000 foundation gift will help the Shawano Healthy Smiles – Shawano Oral Health Workgroup Dental Sealant Program with equipment and supply expenses. The group works with volunteer dentists and dental teams to provide screenings, sealants and oral hygiene education to second graders in the county’s public and private schools.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Dental Clinic will use a $2,000 grant to buy equipment for its new facility. The clinic is staffed largely by volunteer dentists and provides care to poor children and adults from Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine and Waukesha counties.
Tri-County Community Dental Clinic depends on volunteer dentists, hygienists and assistants to help provide care to underserved residents of Calumet, Outagamie and Winnebago counties. A $4,000 foundation grant will help cover general operating costs.
A $4,000 grant will support preventive dental care and education for children being treated at the Waukesha County Community Dental Clinic.
Several WDA programs are also benefiting from the foundation’s generosity.
American Dental Association and WDA educational materials valued at $1,500 will be distributed to first-year Marquette University School of Dentistry students.
Another $800 will help purchase supplies for the 23rd annual WDA Smile Contest to be held Aug. 13, 2010 at the Wisconsin State Fair. Children ages birth to 16 are invited to participate.
The 2010 WDA and WDA Foundation Mission of Mercy scheduled for late June in Sheboygan, Wis. will receive $7,650. More than 900 dental and community volunteers will work together to provide $1 million in charitable dental care to 2,000 adults and children over a two-day period.
The foundation’s Donated Dental Services program is getting $1,000 to help it continue delivering comprehensive dental care at no charge to adults who cannot work due to permanent disabilities, chronic illness or advanced age and who do not qualify for medical assistance programs. Since 1998, 527 dentists have donated $5.2 million in care and 116 dental laboratories have provided $404,000 in supplies and services to 2,010 patients.
Since 2003, the WDA Foundation has awarded $361,000 in oral health program grants and scholarships to dental and dental hygiene students.
The 2011 WDA Foundation grant applications are due no later than Aug. 31, 2010. Visit WDA.org or contact Executive Director Vicki Bohman at 414-755-4198 or vbohman@wda.org for more information.
The WDA Foundation was created in 1957 as the charitable arm of the Wisconsin Dental Association in. A qualified, tax-exempt corporation, the foundation provides scholarships to dental and hygiene students attending accredited schools in Wisconsin. It gives financial support to projects providing dental care to the underserved and other dental-related philanthropic endeavors. The foundation also administers the Donated Dental Services program. The WDA Foundation is proud to be a member of Community Health Charities of Wisconsin. The WDA was established in 1870. With more than 2,900 members statewide, it represents 83 percent of all licensed, practicing dentists in Wisconsin. For more information, call 414-276-4520, visit our WDA.org Web site and find us on Facebook and YouTube.
