America's ToothFairy: National Children's Oral Health Foundation (NCOHF) will launch its Smile Drive campaign to raise oral health awareness and collect toothbrushes and toothpaste for at-risk children in February, National Children's Dental Health Month.
Girl and Boy Scouts, high school, college, and professional students, as well as dental professionals, businesses, and other volunteer groups will collect and donate toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other oral care items for at-risk children in their community. Dental practices and companies serving as collection sites will receive recognition in the National Smile Drive Directory. All registered volunteers will receive a promotional toolkit for hosting a successful drive. Registration is open now.
Donated toothbrushes and toothpaste collected through the Smile Drive will be distributed to local shelters, Boys and Girls Clubs, America's ToothFairy Affiliate clinical partners, and other nonprofit organizations caring for underserved children and their families.
America's ToothFairy launched its first Smile Drive in February 2014 in collaboration with Walmart, Kid's Crest, and Oral-B Stages. More than 430,000 oral care products were collected and distributed to vulnerable children nationwide.
"We are very grateful that Walmart and Align Technology are helping to ensure children across the nation benefit from our National Children's Dental Health Month campaign," said Fern Ingber, America's ToothFairy president and CEO, in a press release.
Community members are invited to visit the National Smile Drive Directory on www.ncohf.org to view participating Smile Drive locations and to drop off donated oral care products. Smile Drive participants are encouraged to share their experience by snapping a photo and using the hashtag #SmileDrive2015 on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
