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South Dakotans once again came together during South Dakota’s fourth annual “Day of Giving” Giving Tuesday event on November 30th to reach the Horizon Health Foundation’s goal of raising $20,000 in twenty-four hours to help 80 children receive oral health care.
65 individuals and businesses invested in Horizon Health Foundation’s Giving “Toothsday” efforts to raise $20,000, which will provide free oral health care to 80 children through Horizon Health Care’s Smiles for Miles program. The Smiles for Miles program is a month-long promotion held at all eight Horizon dental clinics, allowing children ages 0-5 to receive a free dental exam, cleaning, and fluoride treatment.
Delta Dental of South Dakota, Patterson Dental and Central Electric Cooperative partnered with the Foundation to support the event by matching all gifts dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000. Delta Dental is a nonprofit oral health company working to improve the oral health of all South Dakotans. In addition to dental benefit plans, Delta Dental of South Dakota provides dental care and oral health education to kids across the state.
“Access to care is a crucial part of oral health," said Scott Jones, CEO of Delta Dental of South Dakota. "Helping more kids get dental care is a mission we share and can make happen together through our Giving Tuesday partnership."
Patterson Dental serves customers across North America and the United Kingdom by providing more than 130,000 products, equipment and digital solutions to both the animal and oral health fields.
Central Electric Cooperative is a Touchstone Energy Cooperative headquartered near Mitchell that provides electric power to more than 4,600 farm, residential and commercial members in eight counties. Their partnership with the Foundation was funded through Operation Round-Up, a voluntary program in which Central Electric members round up their electric bill to the next whole dollar each month and the extra cents flow into a charitable fund to benefit people and organizations within their service area.
“Children in our service area benefit from the Smiles for Miles dental program, and we are proud to be involved,” said Tara Miller, Operation Round-Up coordinator at Central Electric Cooperative. “It’s encouraging to see organizations like the Horizon Health Foundation stepping up to make a meaningful difference in the communities we serve.”
This year’s success can also be contributed to many successful partnerships leading up to Giving Tuesday, including a “Senator Showdown” video featuring South Dakota District 8 Senator Casey Crabtree and District 28 Senator Ryan Maher. The dental-themed video can be found on Horizon Health Foundation’s Facebook page or viewed on their website at www.horizonhealthfoundation.com/donate/smiles.
“You have made an impact in the lives of 80 children, by ensuring they have the opportunity to grow up with a healthy smile through Horizon’s Smiles for Miles program” said Brianna Feldhaus, Horizon Health Foundation Development Officer. “By giving children a better start in their early years for oral health, you are impacting that child’s entire family and by extension their future.”
Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities, and organizations to encourage philanthropy and to celebrate generosity.
The Horizon Health Foundation was established in 2016 to ensure rural health care access to those in need and provide funding for Horizon Health Care. Horizon Health Foundation, a tax-exempt, non-profit corporation, seeks through responsible activities to encourage and derive sustaining gift support from current and former patients and interested friends, including corporate entities. The Horizon Health Foundation, operating in coordination with Horizon Health Care, is the duly designated fundraising arm for Horizon Health Care. In the broadest sense, the purpose of the Foundation is to create an awareness of the financial needs of Horizon Health Care, which are not provided by patient charges and to systematically implement plans by which dollar needs can be met.
About Horizon Health Care
For over 40 years, Horizon Health Care has been providing personalized, affordable, high-quality medical, dental and mental health care through a rural, community-based network in South Dakota. Horizon is a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that serves the medical, dental and mental health care needs of South Dakotans in rural, medically underserved areas through 110,000 patient visits annually in 32 community health centers in: Aberdeen, Alcester, Bison, Bryant, De Smet, Eagle Butte, Elk Point, Faith, Fort Thompson, Howard, Huron, Isabel, La Plant, Lake Preston, Martin, McIntosh, Mission, Plankinton, Wessington Springs, White River, Woonsocket, and Yankton. For more information please visit www.horizonhealthcare.org.