Give Veterans A Smile Pack & Give Back assembles 500 health kits for New Orleans veterans
ADA Foundation partners with Disabled Veterans National Foundation to host event during SmileCon
Dentists and other SmileCon attendees from across the country showed up in a big way Oct. 17 to help pack about 500 health and comfort kits for underserved veterans in the New Orleans area.
Volunteers added toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and oral health educational materials to the kits during the Give Veterans A Smile Pack & Give Back event at SmileCon in New Orleans. The event was hosted by the ADA Foundation, the charitable arm of the American Dental Association, in partnership with the Disabled Veterans National Foundation.
The kits will be distributed Oct. 18 to veterans at the New Orleans VA Medical Center.
“Together, we’re making a tangible difference in the lives of those who have served our country,” ADA President Linda J. Edgar, D.D.S., told the crowd gathered for the event. “Today, we gather with a shared vision to give back to our veterans who have given so much for us.”
Ret. U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Joseph E. VanFonda, CEO of the Disabled Veterans National Foundation, presented Dr. Edgar with a plaque to thank the ADA and ADA Foundation for helping to care for veterans through the Give Veterans A Smile Pack & Give Back event. Give Veterans A Smile, which is launching at SmileCon, encourages dentists to provide pro bono oral health care to underserved veterans and assist them in finding a dental home.
Pack & Give Back sponsors included Henry Schein Cares, the Dental Trade Alliance Foundation, Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures, and the Alliance of the ADA.
Give Veterans A Smile programming will continue during SmileCon with a mainstage session titled Give Veterans A Smile: Engage, Educate, Empower (6119) from 8:30-10 a.m. Oct. 18 in the La Nouvelle Orleans Ballroom; Providing Care to Underserved Veterans: Panel Presentation Various Care Models (6122) from 10:30 a.m.-noon Oct. 18 in Room 245; the Give Veterans A Smile Networking Happy Hour from 4-5 p.m. Oct. 18 in the Social Impact Hub of Dental Central; Identifying Sustainable and Innovative Best Practices to Veteran Oral Healthcare (7102) from 8:30-10 a.m. Oct. 19 in Room 245; Medical-Dental Integration: A Path to Improved Veteran Healthcare (7108) from noon-1:30 p.m. Oct. 19 in Room 242; and the ADA Foundation Give Veterans A Smile Celebration Event from 6-8 p.m. Oct. 19 at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.
For more information about the ADA Foundation and Give Veterans A Smile, visit adafoundation.org.
