Delta Dental Of New Jersey Foundation Grants Over $500,000 To Community Organizations And Educational Facilities To Support The Underserved Throughout New Jersey

Parsippany, NJ - The Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation announces it will donate over $500,000 to 19 different New Jersey dental clinics and educational facilities that are committed to improving oral health among the state's underserved population and furthering education in dental careers. Eighteen of the 19 grants will support yearlong programs.

"We are committed to offering underserved New Jersey residents access to oral healthcare and education," said Gene F. Napoliello, D.D.S., president of the Foundation. "The community organizations and educational facilities Delta Dental has chosen to support this year share in our mission to promote oral health."

Delta Dental of New Jersey established the Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation in 1986. Its mission includes promoting and assisting educational projects devoted to the enhancement of dental health, research programs designed to increase public awareness of the general benefits of good oral health, and improving dental health through the science of dentistry. Each year, the Foundation awards $1 million to the community in the form of grants. Three-quarters of that budget is allocated to provide access to dental care for the underserved and dental education across the state of New Jersey.

Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation 2006 Grant Initiatives:

• Virtua Health in Camden for delivery of dental care.
  
• Paterson Public Schools Dental Clinic for dental supplies and equipment; delivery of dental care; and to participate in "Give Kids a Smile Day."
  
• Matheny Medical and Educational Center in Peapack to assist in providing dental care to severely developmentally disabled people.
  
• Jewish Renaissance Medical Center in Newark to support a school-based dental clinic program at Quitman Street School.
  
• Ocean Health Initiatives in Lakewood to fund dental supplies and equipment, and to contribute to the delivery of dental care.
  
• Henry J. Austin Health Center in Trenton for dental treatment and equipment.
  
• Eva's Village in Paterson for dental supplies, equipment and the delivery of dental care.
  
• Dover Community Clinic to support dental clinic operations that provide dental care to the uninsured/underinsured residents of Morris County.
  
• Camden County College in Blackwood for dental supplies and equipment.
  
• New Jersey Foundation of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities to assist with facility operations to ensure the elderly and disabled receive adequate dental treatment.
  
• East Orange Health and Human Services for dental equipment and supplies.
  
• UMDNJ-Allied Dental Education for dental hygiene scholarships.
  
• Morristown Memorial Hospital Foundation to provide dental care to persons with developmental disabilities at the Leonard Szerlip Dental Center.
  
• Hunterdon County Department of Health to support a dental program that gives the underserved in Hunterdon access to dental care.
  
• Burlington County College in Pemberton for dental hygiene scholarships.
  
• Somerset Medical Center in Somerville to support the ProKIDS oral health educational program for students K-12.
  
• Nutley High School for dental equipment/supplies for the school-to-careers program.
  
• Monmouth Family Health Center in Long Branch for dental supplies.
  
• Hudson County Dental Society to run the "Give Kids a Smile Day" program.

SOURCE: Delta Dental of New Jersey Foundation