Dear Friend ,
Thank you for being part of the KinderSmile Foundation village! We hope that you and your family are in good health. Your continued support has been truly appreciated!
Since our last Newsletter, we have continued to increase access to oral health education and dental care for our State's most underserved populations in all three of our Dental Homes and through our programs, and completed 2022 with a smile!
February is National Children's Dental Health Month. We are excited to celebrate Give Kids a Smile throughout the entire month at KinderSmile Community Oral Health Centers Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton!
Please read on to learn about our charity's expanded efforts of eradicating dental disease across New Jersey. We could not do it without all of you. #ItTakesAVillage |
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| The Latest from KinderSmile Foundation: |
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15 Years of KinderSmile Foundation! With your support, we have been going strong since 2007, completing our 15th year in 2022.
Over the last 15 years KinderSmile Foundation has provided $10 million of in-kind dental services and impacted 40,000 low-income children in NJ and nine developing nations, in order to eliminate dental disease, the #1 epidemic of economically disadvantaged children. Thank you! |
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Honoring Deamonte Driver
The year 2022 also marked the 15th anniversary of the passing of young Deamonte Driver in 2007, a 12 year old Black boy from Maryland who died due to bacteria from an untreated tooth infection that traveled to his brain. Deamonte's tragic story was the catalyst for the founding of KinderSmile Foundation. With a mission of providing underserved children with access to comprehensive dental care and educating children and their families about the importance of dental hygiene, we envision a future where every child has access to a dentist and preventable dental diseases are eradicated. KinderSmile Foundation is pressing forward in order to make a change, continue to expand access to care, and advocate to increase the number of providers who accept Medicaid, in order to prevent another tragic story!
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Advocates for Children of NJ's Trenton Kids Count |
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Two and a half years ago, when writing the issue of Tooth Talk in preparation of opening KinderSmile Community Oral Health Center Trenton, we referenced ACNJ's Trenton Kids Count in order to raise awareness of the dire need of expanding access to oral health care in the medically underserved capital.
This week, the new issue of Tretnon Kids Count came out, and featured KinderSmile Foundation, mentioning oral health for the first time in 20 years!
Thank you to ACNJ, Smith Family Foundation, The Burke Foundation, Princeton Area Community Foundation, distinguished panelists, and Mayor Gusciora for your continued community support. |
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It Takes a Village Holiday Dinner We celebrated the holiday season with a beautiful dinner with KSF teams KSCOHC Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton. We shared our favorite KSF stories that personally impacted us, and inspired us to continue to serve the community with a smile! |
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Winter Wear Drive
Thank you to Elizabeth Litten from Fox Rothchild, First Bank Trenton, Provident Bank Bloomfield, CSLP volunteer Lucah Benitez, and so many of you, who collected coats, scarves, hats, and gloves to support our community and patients in this year's successful winter drive. |
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| Thank you to The Nassau County and Suffolk County Dental Societies for selecting Dr. Nicole McGrath-Barnes as the keynote speaker at the 13th Scrubs and Stilettos Women's Dental Conference. Dr. Nicole shared her journey and the story of KinderSmile Foundation, in an effort to inspire other dental professionals to give back to their communities. We are grateful to the societies and Dr. Maria Maranga for sponsoring the dental care of KSCOHC Bloomfield's patient Juana, who is excited to begin to smile with confidence! Thank you! |
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KinderSmile Community Oral Health Centers
Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton |
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Over 80% of the children living at or below the Federal Poverty Level are at risk to suffer from dental diseases that are easily preventable. Currently in New Jersey there are 90,000 uninsured children. Sadly, only 22% of children eligible for Medicaid coverage receive preventive dental care. KSF and others have been advocating for change in Medicaid coverage in NJ, and we are excited to report that starting in January 2023 NJ FamilyCare, the state's Medicaid program, will cover all qualifying children, regardless of immigration status, which could expand coverage for an additional 16,000 children.
KSCOHC Bloomfield has continued to provide access to care to thousands of at-risk youth in Essex county and vicinity, providing a link to one of the only Dental Homes in the area where uninsured children and perinatal mothers could get free or affordable care. We are grateful to The Delta Dental of NJ Foundation, The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, Partners for Health Foundation, Montclair Foundation, Hyde and Watson Foundation, Columbia Bank Foundation, Investors Foundation, Bloomfield CDBG, AAPD, and America's ToothFairy for their continued support.
KSCOHC Newark, located at The Boys and Girls Club of Newark is open to Club members and the community, and provides care to underserved youth in this medically underserved city. In Newark 30% of families with children are living below the Federal Poverty Level, compared to 11% state wide. We thank The Delta Dental of NJ Foundation, Dr. Michael Gruber, MCJ Amelior Foundation, Columbia Bank Foundation, and Provident Bank Foundation for supporting this Dental Home.
KSCOHC Trenton provides quality comprehensive dental care for underserved and uninsured adults and children alike. With over 85,000 residents, where 63% of children are insured by Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare, and many are entirely uninsured, Trenton is designated as medically underserved. We are grateful to The George H. and Estelle M. Sands Foundation, The Princeton Area Community Foundation, The Burke Foundation, Delta Dental of NJ Foundation, The Martha L. A. Norris Fund of the PACF, Martha L. A. Norris Fund of the PACF, and I Am Trenton Foundation for their support of our Trenton Dental Home. We extend a special appreciation to Deborah Sands Gartenberg. Thank you!
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The ADA reports that dental practices have been facing labor shortages in all positions, which can lead to delays in routine preventive and comprehensive dental care. KinderSmile Foundation is so grateful to have a team of caring professionals, dedicated to public health and to helping our mission of increasing access to care to the underserved. |
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Dr. Choi, and Dr. Hu, Dr. Jo, and Dr. Lee We are excited to welcome Dr. Hanna Choi, Dr. Shu-Hsuan Hu, Dr. Hyangseong Sophie Jo, Dr. Stephanie Lee as new part time dentists at KSCOHC Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton. With their compassion and care, they have already improved the smiles of so many, and have become beloved providers at the Dental Homes! | |
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KinderSmile Foundation was founded in the community and for the community, and we are so excited to return to our partners, as KinderSmile Oral Health Program is back in full swing! Offsite visits to provide oral health education and preventive dental care have been consistent in Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton, and have been so much fun!
CSLP volunteer Priya Vaid has been conducting in person oral health education assemblies for hundreds of Belleville PreK, MCDC, and EOCDC students! Thank you!
KSOHP continues its visits to GRACE Summit, with Board Member Dorrie Gagnon, RDH. GRACE is a community organization dedicated to helping Summit residents in need. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, they have been consistently serving more than 500 families per week. KSF's GRACE visits include oral health education, diagnostic, and preventive dental care for the uninsured, linking patients back to our Bloomfield Dental Home for comprehensive care when needed. Thank you to The Summit Foundation and Overlook Foundation for sponsoring this important project.
KinderSmile Perinatal Health and Wellness Program breaks the dangerous cycle of untreated dental diseases by empowering uninsured mothers, from pregnancy to three years postpartum, with informative, personal, culturally-sensitive training about the importance of maternal oral health and its impact on the developing fetus and young children. Graduates of the training program earn a full year of free dental care to restore their smiles to full functionality and painlessness. KSF strives to reduce racial disparities and inequities in oral health care access by linking the mothers and their young children to a barrier-free Dental Home. Thank you to The PACF Fund for Women and Girls and Janssen Pharmaceuticals for sponsoring our Trenton PHWP moms.
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Our Programs and Volunteer Opportunities |
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KinderSmile Community Service Learning Program perseveres. The program mentors future philanthropic & healthcare leaders by providing hands-on volunteer opportunities for students from high school through graduate school. Clinical shadowing and nonprofit internships help prepare students from pre-dental to public health, education and business. In 2022 CSLP students donated nearly 1,000 hours of their time in clinical, administrative, public health, and outreach positions. Thank you for all that you do!
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Thank you to our amazing CSLP volunteers Allison, Ayse, Chandni, Chelsey, Christine, Deandra, Dunia, Kathurna, Kianna, Lucah, Maggie, Priya, Sadia, Sheryl, Stephanie, Trinity, Zanub, and Zeynep for being a part of our team! KinderSmile Foundation hosted Montclair State University students for the annual Martin Luther King Day of Service. Students were led by Zeynep Akpinar, as she introduced the program, assigned duties, and helped with task completion. Thank you! |
Congratulations to our CSLP students for their recent acceptances to colleges and dental schools! Ahmad Abulseoud - Rutgers School of Dental Medicine
Allison Lee - Duke University Jennifer Shamash - Stony Brook Univ. School of Dental Medicine Simran Patel - Nova Southeastern Univ. College of Dental Medicine Zeynep Akpinar - Harvard School of Dental Medicine |
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We honor our Give Back a Smile (GBAS) dental professional volunteers, dentists and dental hygienists, who donate their time and talent to serve the community at our Dental Homes and at offsite visits to schools and community centers. In 2022 GBAS volunteers donated 334.5 hours of dental care! Thank you! |
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This winter we count our blessings, as we have been fortunate to continue to serve the community safely, expand our programs, and offer oral health education and access to dental care to thousands of uninsured and underinsured children and adults! We are excited to celebrate National Children's Dental Health Month, as we honor Give Kids a Smile in all three Dental Homes this entire February! We are truly grateful to our donors, grantors, volunteers, and friends who are all part of the KinderSmile Foundation "village." Thank you for helping us achieve our mission to provide access to oral health care and ensure that every child has access to a dentist! Together, we can work towards eradicating preventable dental disease. We couldn't do it without all of you! Blessings, |
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Nicole McGrath-Barnes, DDS, FACD Founder & CEO
KinderSmile Foundation |
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There are a variety of ways to donate to KinderSmile Foundation:
online, check, stock options, or planned giving: |
Planned Giving: Leave a Lasting Legacy of Smiles!
A Planned Gift to KinderSmile Foundation will enable KSF to continue its mission of providing access to oral health care to the underserved, support our programs, and allow you to leave a lasting impact on children’s smiles for years to come.
To ascertain the best way to make a planned gift or legacy donation to KinderSmile Foundation, we recommend that you consult your financial advisor or qualified estate planning attorney. Consider exploring stock options as a way to donate while saving on capital gains taxes. Doing so will maximize your opportunities for meaningful estate, gift and income tax savings for you and your family. |
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Our Mission: To provide underserved children with access to comprehensive dental care and educate children & their families about the importance of dental hygiene. Our Vision: A future where every child has access to a dentist and preventable dental diseases are eradicated.
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KSOHP - KinderSmile Oral Health Program Bringing oral health education and preventive dental care to schools & community events
PHWP - Perinatal Health & Wellness Program
Promoting maternal oral health and dental care during pregnancy and early childhood
CSLP - Community Service Learning Program
Youth mentorship through volunteer work & internships
GBAS - Give Back A Smile
Volunteer opportunities for dental professionals |
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Our Contact Information
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