Volunteers Stuff 1,860 Smile Bags for Esperança’s Oral Health Program

(PHOENIX- March 13, 2019) Team members from Esperança, along with several volunteers, gathered recently to stuff 1,860 Smile Bags for the organization’s oral health program.  In addition to increasing oral health literacy, children and adults receive an age-appropriate Smile Bag, complete with tooth brushes, toothpaste and dental floss that provide them the tools to implement the oral health daily practices they learned in the workshop. These Smile Bags will be distributed throughout the coming months.

By partnering with Title I schools, dental clinics and community centers, Esperança’s bilingual and bicultural health educators provide both valuable education, as well as referrals for free or low-cost dental care, to uninsured and underinsured children and families in Phoenix.

Fiesta Bowl Charities and Delta Dental of Arizona provided the funding for this project.

About Esperança

Derived from the Portuguese word for “hope,” Esperança has been dedicated to transforming lives since its inception in 1970. Globally, the nonprofit works within some of the poorest communities in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, Mozambique and Peru, providing health education, food sustainability, disease prevention, access to clean water, ecological home-building and life-altering surgeries. Further, the organization also serves under-resourced children, adults and seniors in Maricopa County through programs such as oral health, chronic disease prevention and management, nutrition, and parent ambassador training.