ADHA, Wrigley announce grant winners

The American Dental Hygienists' Association (ADHA) Institute for Oral Health (IOH) has announced the winners of the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company Foundation Community Service Grant Program.

The program awards $120,000 in funding over two years to dental hygiene organizations, the institute said. The grants are provided in amounts of $2,500 and $5,000 for community-based organizations providing dental hygiene care to those with limited access to oral healthcare.

The grants were awarded to 13 programs to start or maintain an existing community oral health project. Applicants had to be licensed dental hygienists and active members of ADHA; they were required to submit a proposal of a community service project that demonstrates the capacity to improve the public's oral health and provide oral health education to underserved populations throughout the U.S.

The winning community service projects were selected based on their significance in the communities they will serve, creative approach, sustainability, feasibility, and ongoing quantitative and qualitative evaluation system.

The 2013 grant recipients are as follows:

• Linda Hecker, CDA, RDH -- Burlington County College Dental Hygiene Program: Give Kids a Smile a Day
• Renae Blome, RDH -- Brite Smiles: Brite Smiles Are Healthy Smiles
• Terri Chandler -- Future Smiles Hollingsworth: School-Based Health Center for Education and Prevention of Oral Disease
• Michelle Gross-Panico, RDH, DHSc -- Dignity Health Foundation East Valley on behalf of Chandler Regional Medical Center and Mercy Gilbert Medical Center: Dignity Health Children's Dental Clinic
• Karen Phillips -- Yamhill County Public Health EPDH Work Group: Seal Yamhill
• Kathleen Mangskau -- Ronald McDonald House Carities-Bismarck, ND: Ronald McDonald Care Mobile
• Kim Crabtree, RDH, RDA -- Smiles on Wheels: Dental Health & Education School-Based Programs in Michigan
• Mary Camarena, RDH -- CommuniCare Health Centers: Smile Savers Dental Outreach Program
• Cori Baquero-Cruz, PH RDH -- One World Community Health Centers: Woman, Infant, Child (WIC) Fluoride Varnish Program
• Lorie Jones -- TOMAGWA Ministries: Healthy Smiles
• Kimberly Cruz, RDHAP -- Orange County Dental Hygienists' Society: OCDHS Annual Free Dental Clinic
• Linda Meyers -- Family: Pilot School-Based Dental Clinic for Council Bluffs Community School District
• Lisa Bell, RDH -- Madison Dental Initiative: Madison Dental Initiative Interdisciplinary Approach to Reducing Disease Burden

Applications for 2014 Wrigley grants are now available; the application deadline is November 1. More information can be found on the ADHA IOH website.