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In 2022, many US households faced a significant rise in food insecurity, affecting 44.2 million people. Among them were more than 13 million children, an increase of nearly 45% from the previous year. Families with children and minority communities were hit especially hard, experiencing food insecurity at rates much higher than the national average. The combination of rising food and housing costs and the end of pandemic-related benefits left many families struggling and seeking help from local food pantries and banks.
Food insecurity not only impacts overall health but also has a serious effect on children’s oral health. Children who don’t have enough to eat often have unmet dental needs, making our support more crucial than ever.
America’s ToothFairy has found that by partnering with both dental and non-dental community organizations, we can better reach families where they live, work, learn, play, and receive other essential services. Last year, a grant from Patterson Dental and Patterson Foundation allowed us to launch a pilot program in collaboration with food banks, pantries, and afterschool programs. This initiative provided oral health education, basic oral care products, and connections to dental care for children and families in need. The positive response from food banks and the success of the pilot have encouraged us to expand this initiative in 2024.
This year, support from Patterson improved the lives for 5,000 families struggling to put food on the table by helping us provide oral health kits to food banks and increase access to dental care and/or oral health education for up to 75,000 children across the country.
The oral health kits included toothbrushes, toothpaste, educational activity booklets for kids, and oral health tips brochures for parents, all contained in a fun bag that also serves as a dry-erase dental hygiene habit tracker.
“Every item in our kit is perfect,” Chris Clemens of Hope Center Pantry in Green Bay, Wisconsin told us. Each year, the organization provides meals for thousands of hungry families. “We can fit the toothbrush, toothpaste, dental health brochure and coloring book into the cute bag to distribute to our pantry clients that have young children. The items are of such high quality and will be so appreciated. Thank you so very much for putting together such a nice package to promote dental health!”
“The coloring and activity book is an added benefit for the kids,” Dennis Mielnikowski of FISH Food Pantry in Carpentersville, Illinois added. “The toothbrush and kids’ toothpaste are the foundation. The brushing chart bags pulled it all together... All in all a great idea and you have been so kind to share these articles with those on the margins.” Last year, the all-volunteer team at FISH Food Pantry provided food for more than 50,000 people.
In all, Patterson Dental and Patterson Foundation supported the distribution of resource kits to 50 food banks in 18 states including Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
Food banks in Kentucky, Oklahoma and Illinois also received kits thanks to support from Delta Dental of Kentucky Foundation, Dental Dental Foundation of Illinois and Delta Dental Foundation of Oklahoma.
To see how you can sponsor kits for children in need in your community visit our all-new Smile Guardian Program page.
