Founded in 1917, the Lions Clubs are the world’s largest service organization with 1.35 million volunteer members. Founded in 2005, the Ponderosa Lions Club has committed to serve the community by improving vision, hearing and other challenging needs, dental needs included.
And it all started with one little toothache.
The Ponderosa Lions Club program to improve smiles in the Heber/Overgaard area started small. A young girl in a Girl Scout meeting informed a member of the Lions Club of her family’s inability to drive her to the dentist. With many parents working full time, transportation to the dentist was a concern of local families. The Lions Club stepped in to help fill this need.
As the Lions Club began to understand the unmet need of oral health services and education, the decision to start the Children’s Dental Health Awareness Program was made.
Today, the Lions Club has a detailed plan to reach more than 565 students in underserved areas in the eastern Mountains of Arizona. Their belief lies in the simple fact that unless a child has the knowledge of how to take care of their teeth, there will not be any motivation to do so.
The Children’s Dental Health Awareness Program includes a school year of educational presentations, an oral health drawing contest and several puppet shows to exhibit good oral health habits. For more information about the program and the Tooth Fairy, please visit their website.
