OREANDA-NEWS. February 16, 2015. Kids In Need of Dentistry (KIND) recently announced a \\$25,000 grant from the Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Program. The grant will positively impact the local community by providing dental care to low income children in KIND’s three dental clinics and ensuring that no child is turned away with the inability to pay.< “We are so appreciative of the Walmart Foundation and their generous support of KIND over the last several years” said Julie Collett, Executive Director of KIND. “The funding that we received will help our clinics provide dental care to our families who can’t afford even our lowest fees. Our mission is to increase the health and happiness of Colorado’s children in need and thanks to Walmart we can continue to do that. We can’t thank Walmart enough for having confidence in the work that we do and for believing in our mission”.    

“Organizations such as KIND continue to pave the way for providing necessary care opportunities to children who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it,” said Donald Wallis, Walmart market manager. “We are pleased to once again partner with KIND who share our core values and are committed to helping those in need, which in turn helps to build a stronger community.”

KIND was founded in 1912 by a committee of dentists from the Denver Dental Society (now called the Metropolitan Denver Dental Society or MDDS). Additional clinics were opened in the mid-1960s and in 2003 and mobile services were added in the late 90’s.Concerned about impoverished children in Denver receiving essential dental care, they opened a clinic in Morey Middle School in Capitol Hill, which operated until September 2014. In 2014, MDDS opened another clinic in Denver. Throughout their 100-year history, KIND has sought to reach as many children as possible by expanding its services in creative ways. 

KIND is addressing not only the issue of access to care, but also identifying children who are suffering silently and not visiting a dentist when in need. KIND’s prevention programs, oral health education, screenings and sealants reach young children and fixed and mobile clinics provide restorative care. KIND operates several programs that are geared toward reaching low-income children where they live or go to school.

The Walmart Foundation’s State Giving Program supports organizations that create opportunities so people can live better, awarding grants that have a long-lasting, positive impact on communities across the U.S. In the last fiscal year, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave \\$19.3 million to Colorado nonprofits. To be considered for support, perspective grantee organizations must submit applications through the Walmart Foundation State Giving Program’s online grant application. Applicants must have a current 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in order to meet the program’s minimum eligibility criteria. Additional information about the program’s funding guidelines and application process are available online at www.walmartfoundation.org/stategiving.

About KIND
KIND has been providing dental care for Colorado’s children in need for over 103 years. KIND operates three comprehensive dental clinics located in Denver, Commerce and Colorado Springs.   Their school based sealant program, Chopper Topper, provides oral health education, dental screenings and sealants to second graders each year to over 80 elementary schools in the Denver Metro area.  In 2013, KIND provided 8,384 patients visits in all of their programs.

About Philanthropy at Walmart
Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are committed to helping people live better through philanthropic efforts that draw on the strengths of Walmart in the arenas of sustainability, economic opportunity, and community. As part of our commitment to creating a more sustainable food system worldwide, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation are leading the fight against hunger in the United States. They recently exceeded a \\$2 billion goal to fight hunger one year ahead of schedule and have donated more than 1.5 billion pounds of food to those in need across the country. To learn more about Walmart’s giving, visit www.foundation.walmart.com.

 
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