By Dave Foe
Managing Editor
Journal of the Michigan Dental Association
The next time somebody says that the dental profession needs to “do something” about access to care, you might want to mention the Michigan Dental Association Foundation.
When you hear people gripe that we’re not doing enough to promote oral health, feel free to mention the Michigan Dental Association Foundation again.
And when somebody complains that organized dentistry needs to “do something” about the high cost of dental education, be sure to remind them of the Michigan Dental Association Foundation, too.
These three areas — access, scholarships, and oral health initiatives — are the very reason the Michigan Dental Association Foundation exists. Having completed its first 10 years of service, the former Michigan Dental Foundation today has a new name, new vitality, and a razor-sharp focus on its goals and mission for the upcoming decade.
As Foundation President Dr. Ron Paler says, “We’re like a young stallion, full of energy and ready to jump the fence and take off.”
He may have something there. Consider:
- in the past seven years the Foundation has awarded 12 access-to-care grants totaling $70,000;
- over the last 11 years the Foundation has given more than $100,000 in scholarships for dental, dental hygiene, and dental assisting students;
- it’s provided 156,000 toothbrush kits for needy children in the Detroit area; and
- sponsored $12,000 in MDA Statewide Coloring Contest prizes.
But much more is in store for the Michigan Dental Association Foundation. In the next 10 years, as Paler sees it, the Foundation is set to become part of the “bedrock” of Michigan dentistry.
Eleven members of the 14-member Michigan Dental Association “Our mission is to serve as the philanthropic arm of the Michigan Dental Association, along with all that that entails,” Paler, a former MDA president, says.
“The MDA has always been an organization with somewhat of a dual mission,” Paler explains. “It represents dentists to the Legislature and others and helps us be in a position to practice more successfully. But at the same time, the MDA also looks after the oral health of the public, and that’s a very important part of what the MDA is. That’s where we come in. Basically, the Foundation helps the MDA succeed in this second role. As a charitable foundation we are able to raise funds and administer them in such a way that we can provide the maximum bang for the buck in terms of scholarships, access grants and oral health initiatives,” Paler says.
“With our economic troubles, with cutbacks in insurance and funding and so much else, these types of things are becoming increasingly important. There’s more need out there. And so, there is an increasing need for a philanthropic presence for Michigan dentistry. It’s a social mission role for the MDA. The Michigan Dental Association Foundation is stepping up and filling that role.”
Paler believes the Foundation will assume an ever-greater presence both in the dental community but also in the overall philanthropic community in the state. Before long, he says, the MDA will look to the Foundation to serve a critical role in advancing its goals in terms of dental care and access. The Foundation will also be recognized by the Legislature and other political leaders as a key player in access and education.
MDA provided support
The Foundation dates from 1998, when a group of concerned dentists, led by the late Dr. Robert Mitus and others, decided it was time for Michigan dental professionals to support their profession and communities in the form of charitable contributions. Other professional associations, such as the Michigan State Medical Society and the State Bar of Michigan, had already organized similar, successful ventures. In West Michigan, dentists had also established a local foundation. Key leaders were recruited from the ranks of the MDA as well as the former MDA Alliance, the Michigan Dental Hygienists’ Association, and the Michigan Dental Assistants Association. The support of all these groups helped get the Foundation off the ground in its early years. The MDA provided financial support to launch the organization, but MDA members soon began to “step up to the plate” with donations. Somewhat remarkably, the organization granted $10,000 in scholarships its first year.
Growth was unsteady at first. But after a few years the organization began to achieve a level of stability as it became more well-known and as it began a systematic program of year-round activities.
The late Dr. Charles Defever served as Foundation president, later succeeded by Dr. Rick Brodoski, another MDA past president, and then Paler. Today, the Foundation’s board is made up of 10 directors representing the dental profession as well as the public at large, in addition to officers including the president, vice-president, treasurer and secretary, representing dentistry throughout all parts of Michigan.
Current programs
The Michigan Dental Association Foundation operates a number of successful programs:
Student scholarships. Each year the Foundation awards student scholarships to dental, dental hygiene and dental assisting students through the generous donations of individuals and partner organizations. The Foundation’s scholarship program is designed to help ensure a supply of dental professionals to meet the demand in the future. The Foundation’s Robert D. Mitus Scholarship provides funds to students from various educational institutions in the state. The Foundation’s John G. Nolen Scholarship is given to a third-year dental student at the University of Michigan. The George Bletsas Scholarship is awarded to a third-year dental student at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry. And the MDA Insurance & Financial Group/Dr. William Schumann Scholarship is given each year to a fourth-year dental student at the University of Michigan.
Oral health access-to-care grants. This year, separate $5,000 grants have been awarded to the Hope Dental Clinic in Ypsilanti, the Traverse Health Clinic in Traverse City, and the Paula Tutman Tooth Fairy Foundation in Detroit. (For more on this year’s grant recipients, see the insert in this issue of the Journal.)
Grants are awarded statewide. Past access grant recipients have included the Center for Family Health in Jackson, Care Free Medical/Dental Clinic in Lansing, and the VINA Community Dental Center in Brighton. Other recipients include the Meadow Brook Foundation in Bellaire and Hybrid Intervention Services in Grand Rapids.
Old Newsboys/Goodfellows Program. Each year the Foundation provides dental items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste to holiday packages distributed by the Goodfellows, a charitable organization in metro Detroit. The Foundation has collaborated with Procter & Gamble, Quantum Labs, Patterson Dental, Sullivan-Schein, Benco Dental and others to supply these dental kits to needy children.
Give Kids a Smile Day. The Foundation has contributed dental health kits to needy children at two Give Kids a Smile events at the University of Detroit Mercy and at the University of Michigan. More than 500 kits have been given thus far at UDM, and 200 at Michigan.
MDA Statewide Coloring Contest. Thanks to Foundation support, thousands of school children across Michigan are able to participate and win prizes in the MDA’s National Children’s Dental Health Month Coloring Contest. The Foundation took over as the main sponsor of this event in 2002.
Highlights newsletter. This informative update is published three times a year and inserted into the Journal of the Michigan Dental Association. Each issue spotlights the latest Foundation news, contributors, scholarship recipients, and programs.
Additional support. Currently, the Foundation is providing support to the Jonathan Taft Society at the University of Michigan, and recently assisted with the MiDOOR event at the University of Detroit Mercy. The Foundation also helped fund the “Your Spitting Image” traveling exhibit at the Impression 5 Science Museum in Lansing. The Foundation will soon begin distributing American Dental Association Relief Fund monies in Michigan, taking over this job from the MDA. And the Foundation’s Gerri Cherney Fund is another source of support for various access programs.
Seeking a higher profile
In September of this year the Foundation changed its name from the “Michigan Dental Foundation” to the “Michigan Dental Association Foundation.” A new Michigan Dental Association Foundation logo was created to visually tie the Foundation to the parent organization, the MDA.
MDA Executive Director Drew Eason says the change will be an important step for both organizations.
“As our Foundation grew, a consensus began developing that its name didn’t fully communicate what the Foundation was or its connection with the Michigan Dental Association,” Eason said. “The MDA spends more than $1 million a year in various public relations and dental health education activities. We’re really getting our name out there, and have been doing so for a long time. The public recognizes the Michigan Dental Association. With that in mind, having the association’s full name on the Foundation really helps the Foundation achieve additional visibility and legitimacy in the eyes of the public, among donors, and among members of the charitable community.”
Eason says he hopes the name change will accomplish another goal, too.
“Sometimes in the past we’ve thought of the MDA and the Foundation as two separate organizations,” Eason says. “Of course, legally, it is a 510(c)3 charitable organization, and that won’t change. But the Foundation is really a part of the MDA family. It’s truly the MDA’s philanthropic arm, and it’s very important to the future of the MDA and to organized dentistry and what we’re trying to accomplish together.”
The Foundation is growing in influence as well as in the size of its financial holdings. Most of its funding comes from MDA members, although the MDA continues to contribute to the Foundation each year (last year’s amount was $10,000). Grassroots fund-raising activities include a yearly golf outing, various donor appeals, online auctions, silent auctions, sale of holiday ornaments, and an annual car raffle at the MDA Annual Session.
The Foundation now boasts total assets of $1,179,000, with at least $63,000 in charitable disbursements scheduled for 2009 to date. Full information is available by request.
Upcoming fund-raising activities are highlighted in the box on page 33. MDA members can make a contribution to the Foundation on their MDA dues statements, or by filling out the contribution form on page 13.
The Foundation’s Paler sums it up succinctly.
“We started small, but we’re not thinking small. It’s amazing to me to see where the last 10 years have led us. The next 10 will be even more amazing.”
He continues: “The Foundation is becoming one of Michigan dentistry’s success stories. It hasn’t been easy, and it’s taken a lot of work, but we’re on the map, and we’re growing. What we’ve been able to do is a direct result of the support we’ve received from those who have donated.
“We’ve done some great things, and we’re going to do a lot more before we’re through.”
