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Articles
2004 Marks 35 Years for Delta Dental
PANDA Program Fights Child Abuse
Foundation Gives Back to NJ Communities
Delta Dental Employees Help Children
Affected by AIDS
Golf Classic Reminder
2004 Marks 35 Years for Delta
Dental
This year Delta Dental Plan of New Jersey celebrates
our anniversary using the theme "35 Years Dedicated
to Healthy Smiles." We began providing quality dental
benefit programs in 1969.
Delta Dental is committed to providing excellent
value for your benefit dollar. We are honored to
serve you and your employees. Thank you for helping
us to reach this milestone.
PANDA Program Fights Child
Abuse
Would you be able to recognize an abused child?
The signs of abuse aren't always obvious. That's
why the Delta Dental Foundation offers its PANDA
(Prevent Abuse and Neglect through Dental Awareness)
educational program to those who are in regular contact
with children.
PANDA was originally created for dentists, who are
well positioned to detect child abuse. Two out of
every three injuries occur to the head, face, and
neck areas, which are readily visible during a dental
exam.
In recent years, the PANDA program expanded to include
medical professionals, teachers, school nurses, youth
group leaders, and other community group leaders
who can assist in the fight to combat devastating
patterns of abusive behavior.
PANDA presentations provide detailed information
on physical and behavioral indicators of child abuse
and neglect. They also teach how to report, whom
to contact, and how to deal with the sensitive issues
involved in filing a report of suspected abuse.
The PANDA presentation is a one- to three-hour slide
program and workshop conducted by trained professionals.
If you are interested in attending a presentation
or scheduling one for your group, please call (973)
944-4555.
Sidebar: Delta Dental Supports Blue Ribbon Campaign Against Child Abuse
Delta Dental is an annual sponsor of the Prevent
Child Abuse-New Jersey (PCA-NJ) Blue Ribbon Campaign,
which takes place each April during National Child
Abuse Prevention Month.
PCA-NJ, with the help of hundreds of volunteers,
distributes more than 250,000 blue ribbons throughout
New Jersey. The ribbons remind people of the tragedy
of child abuse and what they can do to help prevent
it.
For more information on PCA-NJ or to learn about
becoming a volunteer for the Blue Ribbon Campaign,
please call (732) 246-8060 or visit PCA-NJ's Web
site at www.preventchildabusenj.org.
For information about other programs to prevent child
abuse, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services' National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and
Neglect Information at http://nccanch.acf.hhs.gov/.
Foundation Gives Back to NJ
Communities
There's more to Delta Dental Plan of New Jersey
than providing quality dental benefits programs.
Our charitable arm, the Delta Dental Plan of New
Jersey Foundation, Inc., reaches out to communities
and helps the needy get dental treatment, as well
as fund scholarship programs for dental assisting
and dental hygiene programs at schools throughout
New Jersey.
In 1986, the Delta Dental Endowment Association of
New Jersey was organized to help promote educational
projects devoted to enhance dental health, and support
research programs that increased public awareness
of the importance of dental health. In 2000, the
Endowment Association changed its name to the Delta
Dental Plan of New Jersey Foundation, Inc. The Foundation
continues to provide financial support to programs
that promote and provide dental care.
The Foundation's 14-member board meets four times
a year to review grant requests and make awards.
The board also follows up on all grants by requiring
each funded organization or school to submit outcomes
reports giving a breakdown of the results of their
programs. Organizations and educational institutions
apply each year for financial support. The Foundation
must determine which ones are most in line with the
Foundation's goals.
Delta Dental's Foundation donates money to many community
clinics and organizations to help the underserved
(individuals who do not have dental insurance or
are unable to access dental treatment) get dental
care. Some of those facilities are Dover Community
Clinic, Henry J. Austin Health Clinic in Trenton,
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, Northwest New
Jersey Dental Coalition (Newton Memorial Hospital),
Paterson Public Schools Dental Clinic, and Virtua-West
Jersey Hospital in Camden.
The Foundation also funds organizations that provide
dental treatment to children and adults with severe
disabilities. Some of those organizations are:
- Kessler Memorial Hospital (treat developmentally
disabled)
- Kimball Medical Center (offer emergency dental
care to underserved, mentally handicapped people
and children)
- Matheny School and Hospital (provide dental care
for children and adults with developmental impairments
such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and muscular
dystrophy)
- NJ Foundation of Dentistry for Persons with Disabilities
(provide dental care for elderly and mentally/physically
handicapped-with disorders such as lymphoma and
multiple sclerosis-for patients of all ages who
have severely neglected dental problems)
Thanks to the support of the Foundation, dental
assisting and dental hygiene scholarships have been
established at colleges throughout the state. Some
of the schools include: Bergen Community College,
Camden County College, Mercer County Technical School,
Middlesex County College, and the University of Medicine
and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Due to the shortage
of dental professionals, each year the Foundation
provides financial support to a certain number of
students pursuing a career in dental care.
For the past 17 years, the Delta Dental Plan of New
Jersey Foundation, Inc. has funded dental scholarship
programs and supported community clinics and organizations
to help ensure that greater access to dental care
is achievable. The Foundation continues to promote
the importance of dental health through all the programs
it funds each year.
Delta Dental Employees Help
Children Affected by AIDS
The two infant girls slept peacefully side by side
in a stroller while adults in the kitchen chatted
about upcoming holiday parties and gifts still left
to wrap. But the conversation soon switched to a
more serious topic: HIV and AIDS, and how they affect
thousands of area children, including the two napping
infants. Born prematurely last summer to HIV-infected
mothers in New Jersey, they, too, carry the disease.
But Chaplain Carol Bamesberger, director of the nonprofit
group Angel Connection, and her cadre of volunteers,
refuse to focus on the tragedy of AIDS, and instead
strive to improve the lives of children and families
who live daily with the disease.
For the past 11 years, Angel Connection has worked
with businesses throughout New Jersey on holiday
toy drives. Employees at organizations including
Delta Dental buy gifts for children whose families
are affected by AIDS.
Unlike most toy drives, Angel Connection does not
present the gifts directly to children. Instead,
gifts are delivered to parents and guardians so they
have something to give to their children. Many parents
are so weakened and impoverished by illness that
this is the only way they can give their children
anything.
For some families, this may be their last holiday
together.
Delta Dental employees donated gifts for more than
100 children, thereby helping dozens of families
in difficult situations find joy in the season. "We
believe miracles happen one angel at a time," says
Bamesberger. To Delta Dental employees, she says, "Thank
you for being that angel."
She adds, "Delta Dental and Angel Connection are
really both in the same business. We're both about
smiles."
Families served year-round
This marks the 11th year of Angel Connection, which
operates out of a refurbished house on the grounds
of the Greystone Park state psychiatric hospital
in Morris County, New Jersey.
Near the holidays the house bustles with activities,
as volunteers sort, wrap and distribute gifts to
an ever-growing list of children. This past holiday
season, Angel Connection collected holiday gifts
for nearly 4,000 AIDS-affected children throughout
New Jersey and New York City.
Angel Connection operates year-round, providing many
other services for families. It holds workshops for
mothers with AIDS to help them plan for the future
of their children. "Many of them are alone in their
journey," says Bamesberger. "We help them think about
finding guardians, and show them how to go about
that."
Angel Connection holds a fall "Pumpkin Patch Picnic" to
collect coats for children. Each summer Angel Connection
prepares camp backpacks for 250 children, so they
have everything they need to go to summer camp.
One new program, called "The Shirt Off My Back," pairs
fourth graders with others the same age who have
AIDS. The students create matching shirts for themselves
and their "twins." Programs like this are designed
to educate children and adults about AIDS, and help
reduce the stigma and misunderstanding surrounding
the disease.
Much progress has been made in this area, says one
Angel Connection volunteer named Mary. Mary is a
foster parent and adoptive mother of five children
with AIDS. Two of her children died. In 1987, when
she started caring for children with AIDS, her children
weren't allowed into church play groups, her pediatrician
didn't know how to treat them, and other parents
wouldn't allow their children to play with hers.
Today, her children participate in scouting, attend
school and have play dates.
It isn't a typical life, Mary quickly adds. For a
class assignment, Mary's 11-year-old daughter recently
wrote an essay about what makes her sad. She wrote
about the deaths of her birth mother and siblings,
that she never knew her father, and about her own
disease. "Most of us will never go through what she's
already been through," says Mary.
Angel Connection receives no public funding. It relies
on donations from companies and individuals to remain
in operation and continue its services. It has come
perilously close to running out of money several
times in the past year. Bamesberger worries about
the future of Angel Connection. "If we fail, there
are a lot of little children who won't get help," she
says.
For information about how to support Angel Connection,
contact:
Chaplain Carol Bamesberger, Director, Angel Connection
3 Executive Drive
P.O. Box 9123
Greystone Park, NJ 07950-9123
(973) 898-0048
Golf Classic Reminder
The 14th annual Delta Dental Golf Classic will take
place on June 23, 2004, at Fiddler's Elbow Country
Club. The event benefits Special Olympics New Jersey,
a non-profit organization that provides athletic
training and competition for children and adults
with mental retardation. We hope to see you there!
Call (973) 285-4059 for more details.
Sidebar: Delta Dental Helps Special Olympics New Jersey
Delta Dental participates in several activities each
year to support Special Olympics New Jersey. These
include sponsoring a concert for athletes at the
2004 Special Olympics New Jersey Winter Games in
February and hosting the Delta Dental Golf Classic
in June.
Delta Dental's contributions in 2003 allowed more
than 13,500 athletes in New Jersey to train in 23
sports and compete in more than 140 events completely
free of charge.
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