Future Smiles, Southern Nevada’s largest school-based preventive and restorative dental health program, donated a trove of personal protective equipment including medical facemasks, gowns and gloves to two Las Vegas Valley groups helping the public cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
Future Smiles donated 600 masks, 3,300 pairs of gloves (small, medium and large) and 50 gowns to University Medical Center and to volunteers for grocery giveaways, with community partners Threw Square and Communities in Schools, at local elementary schools. The donations also included containers of disinfectant wipes and containers of hand sanitizer, and toothbrush and toothpaste Smile Kits for the grocery giveaways.
“We’re very glad to be able to help our local healthcare professionals serve Southern Nevada and help fight this pandemic,” Future Smiles founder and Executive Director Terri Chandler said. “There’s a critical need for these supplies, and we were more than happy to help supply them.”
Future Smiles plans to distribute an additional 4,500 Smile Kits with the Grocery Giveaway.
Since its 2009 inception, Future Smiles has provided dental services at low or no cost to more than 100,000 at-risk children in Southern Nevada at individual Clark County Schools and at the Nevada Women’s Philanthropy Dental Wellness Center at Elaine P. Wynn Elementary School, which opened in March 2019. Future Smiles has not been able to serve patients due to the Covid-19 though plans to ramp up services once the State of Nevada lifts the non-essential business closure mandate.
About Future Smiles
Future Smiles is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase access to dental health care for underserved populations. Founded in 2009, Future Smiles is Southern Nevada’s largest school-based preventive and restorative dental health program directly serving more than 6,000 students annually. Its goal is to improve overall health, which includes oral health, by eliminating health care barriers ending dental pain and suffering for Southern Nevada’s youth. To learn more about Future Smiles, visit www.futuresmiles.net.