Dentists In Your Community

Volunteering at Local Food Bank

This year Drs. Plackner and Syeda and their staff at Heritage Family Dental in Red Deer decided to forego their usual Christmas Party, a dinner theatre or comedy club, and instead volunteered at their local Food Bank. The opportunity to give a little something back to their community was greatly enjoyed by all and many of the staff said it was one of the best 'Christmas Parties' ever.

Spruce Grove dentist, Dr. Ahpin established charitable organization called Africa Smiles

After our visit with Free Mission to Gabon, Africa Dr. Ahpin was determined to get even more hands-on with the people. He was limited in his ability to be able to provide free dentistry by the hospital we visited, so he decided to set out on his own and make sure he reached people who otherwise had no access to dental services. In 2005 he successfully established a traveling dental unit providing all of his own equipment and supplies for visits to Niger, Africa. The equipment needed for dentistry is complex and includes a self-contained unit to provide suction, water, and a hand piece. Of course for this he needed a generator and water supply. In 2007 he successfully established a charitable organization to accept donations and funding for the dental unit in Niger, Africa. The charity’s name is officially “Africa Smiles on Healthcare Foundation”. Donations can be received at our office with an official tax receipt provided. Currently most of the funding comes from Dr. Ahpin himself.

AIDS Walk for Life

The Alberta Dental Association and College is proud to sponsor the AIDS Walk for Life in Edmonton and Calgary on September 23rd.
Men, women, and children of all ages, races, and backgrounds will come together in a massive demonstration of unity to end the suffering caused by HIV/AIDS.
Whether you are walking, volunteering, or making a donation, you can make a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Your efforts will help increase awareness about HIV/AIDS and raise money to provide essential services for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS in Edmonton, Calgary and surrounding area.
For more information on AIDS Walk For Life please visit
http://www.hivedmonton.com/
http://www.aidscalgary.org/
By working together, we can create a caring and compassionate society that is more informed about HIV/AIDS – and more open to helping those who live with it.

Cooking for the Hope Mission

In January 2007.Dr. Montano of Edmonton with his wife, brother, sisters, niece, brother in law and friends prepared Filipino and Chinese foods for 450 people at Edmonton’s Hope Mission.

Dr. Montano encourages everyone to help be a part of their community and have a great rewarding experience as he and his family have.

Hope Mission, a Christian social care agency, began in 1929 as a soup kitchen serving meals to hundreds of people struggling with unemployment and homelessness at the onset of the Depression.

Hope Mission currently operates a men’s emergency shelter (Herb Jamieson Centre), a residence for at-risk women with or without children (Women’s Centre), a youth outreach centre (R.W. Tegler Youth Sports Centre), an activity and hot meal program to low income area elementary schools (Kids In Action), a Youth Shelter, and a summer camp for underprivileged youth and children (Brightwood Ranch).

Last spring, Dr. Corinna Hildebrand, a dentist in High River, vowed to shave her head in order to raise as much money as possible for the Kids Cancer Care Foundation of Alberta. Dr. Grant Ebenal and Corinna's assistant, Sharla Wilson joined her right away.

The entire office (the High River Dental Centre) put in a joint effort to advertise their event and spent many hours putting together pledge forms, mailing them out and promoting the head shave. They set up a bill board in their waiting room, inviting anyone who was interested to join the head shave. In all, they ended up with 17 participants.

Their office also held our own fundraising blitz; donating all of their wages and production from a long hard day at work. They decided to make that donation directly to the High River Cancer Clinic to directly help our community.

All of their efforts (along with an equal effort from all 17 participants) surpassed all of their expectations. The shave off was an amazing, emotional event. In total, they raised more than $35,000.00 for cancer research, funding both their community cancer clinic and the Kids Cancer Care Foundation.

Ronald McDonald House

Since 1999, Dr. Bill Sharun from Edmonton has been very active with Ronald McDonald House. In 2000 he chaired an “Adopt a Room” program which raises funds to decorate the rooms with the House. From 2002-2004 he was President of Ronald McDonald House and in 2005 he was Chair of the capital campaign which raised funds for the expansion Ronald Macdonald Edmonton house.

In the above photo, Dr. Sharun is handing out the Adopt-a-Room plaques at the House a few years ago. Various companies, individuals or organizations sponsor a room and receive a plaque on that room in recognition of their significant support.

The Mission of Ronald McDonal House is to provide a temporary home-away-from-home for families of children with a critical illness who have to travel to Edmonton for medical treatment, thereby giving those families a place that offers comfort, compassion and support during a time of crisis.
Ronald McDonald House is a home where families can be themselves and kids can be kids with others who are also waiting here for the critical care. The warmth of the House is reflected in the smiles of the children, the peacefulness of the parents, and the many long-term volunteers who have dedicated years towards ensuring these families aren’t worrying about where to sleep and eat while away from home.

For more information, please visit http://www.rmhedmonton.ca/.