FORCE FOR GOOD

Big Hearts Making a Big Impact

Written By : Generations of Smiles Writers

Published: Aug 30, 2017

Updated: Oct 05, 2023

 

Serving Our Communities on Smile Generation Serve Day 2017

 

Smile Generation Serve Day is an annual day of service as part of a nationwide campaign of giving. It focuses on dental care and also includes local service projects, such as cleaning up community parks and volunteering at local food banks. On Saturday, August 19th 2017, over 540 Smile Generation®-trusted dental offices and nearly 5,000 Smile Generation volunteers joined together to support the 7th annual Smile Generation Serve Day! Smile Generation-trusted offices came together to serve over 2,300 patients resulting in 3 million in donated dentistry in one day! Our biggest day of service yet!

Many of the offices partnered with local non-profit organizations to combine their efforts in reaching community members. Clermont Smiles Dentistry in Clermont, FL, for example partnered with the Unforsaken Women’s Corporation, which assists single mothers, widows and those who are in need of assistance due to unfortunate circumstances.
Clermont Smiles Dentistry Operations Manager, Ryan Nahe, described the most rewarding part of the day when an unexpected patient called seeking help as she was in extreme pain. She had been calling around to find an office to help her, but with no success. When Dr. Nam heard the patient’s need for service, he took it upon himself to add the patient to their schedule. As Ryan shared, the patient “was so appreciative of Dr. Nam and the services he and the team provided that she left thanking everyone and expressing how she wants Clermont Smiles Dentistry to be her new home for all her dental needs!” This was Clermont Smiles Dentistry’s first time participating in Smile Generation Serve Day and they are already looking forward to serving again next year!
 
(Photo: Clermont Smiles Dentistry team members)
 
Over the course of the past seven years, we’ve seen impactful stories like this from offices all around the country. Since the inaugural year of Smile Generation Serve Day in 2011, roughly 12,500 patients have received care totaling more than 0 million dollars in donated dentistry.
Serving others is something that Smile Generation team members are very passionate about. Team members look forward to Smile Generation Serve Day every year because they care about serving others and they want to continue to bring smiles to their communities!

Stephen Thorne IV, CEO and Founder of Pacific Dental Services, sees Smile Generation Serve Day as a way of engaging volunteers to help people through acts of service. Thorne reflected, “I’ve found when people engage in the physical act of service – of giving oneself and one’s time and talents to serving others – it changes our hearts and minds about what is truly important in life.”

The Pacific Dental Services® Foundation mobile dental clinic visits The Samaritan Center of Simi Valley. Since 1994, The Samaritan Center of Simi Valley has been serving homeless individuals.
  Serving Our Communities on Smile Generation Serve Day 2017   Smile Generation Serve Day is an annual day of service as part of a nationwide campaign of giving. It focuses on dental care an
  Smile Generation®-Trusted Offices Serve More than 2,100 Patients and Provide More than .7 Million in Donated Dentistry During Smile Generation Serve Day         &nbs