The ADA Foundation (ADAF) has announced the winners of the 2015 Smile Champion awards for Give Kids A Smile® (GKAS), which recognize outstanding volunteer and corporate efforts to strengthen and expand the GKAS program. Dr Cavan Brunsden, a pediatric dentist in Old Bridge, NJ, has been named the recipient of the Jeffrey Dalin, DDS, Give Kids A Smile Volunteer Award. Colgate-Palmolive has been named the recipient of the Steven W. Kess Give Kids A Smile Corporate Volunteer Award.
The awards presentation will take place during the ADA Foundation Give Kids A Smile Volunteer Recognition Reception, November 5, 2015, at the ADA’s Annual Meeting in Washington, DC.
Brunsden has been involved with Give Kids A Smile since the program’s inception in New Jersey in 2003. GKAS NJ primarily operates as a 1-day treatment event on the first Friday in February of each year. In 2014, an estimated 400 volunteer dentists and more than 1,000 other volunteers provided $1,000,000+ in treatment services to more than 4,300 children. Since 2003, more than 36,000 children have been treated in New Jersey through its GKAS program.
Built on collaborative relationships across the state, GKAS NJ provides screening and treatment through a number of dental healthcare delivery centers including Rutgers School of Dental Medicine and Rutgers University Newark campus, NJ Association of Orthodontists, NJ Dental Hygienists’ Association, NJ Dental Assistants’ Association, NJ Oral Health Coalition, NJ Association of Pediatric Dentists, six county college programs across the state, and more than 100 private practices in all 21 New Jersey counties.
“Give Kids A Smile is an opportunity to establish a trusting relationship with a child, that leads to a lifetime of healthy, happy smiles,” said Brunsden. “Nothing gives me greater pleasure than to open the door to those in need so that they can learn the importance of oral health care.”
Meanwhile, Colgate has donated more than $700,000 to the Give Kids A Smile program since 2008, as well as substantial in-kind donations throughout the year. In 2015 alone, Colgate contributed over 300,000 sets of Colgate Cavity Protection Toothpaste and Colgate Smiles Youth Universal Toothbrushes for children who participated in Give Kids A Smile Day events all over the country.
“As a leading global provider of oral care products, Colgate is strongly committed to educating communities and improving children’s oral health,” said Julie Dillon, general manager, Colgate Professional Oral Care, North America. “We’re proud to be a long-term supporter of the Give Kids A Smile program, which provides much needed care to children throughout the United States and together with Colgate Bright Smiles, Bright Futures®, helps build oral health literacy. We know dental professionals want to make a difference in their communities and believe participating in a Give Kids A Smile event is a great way to give back.”
