CHARLOTTE, North Carolina--The National Children's Oral Health Foundation has announced that Dr. Michael Miller and his running coach, Mary Conditt, have to date raised more than $70,000 in cash contributions and product donations by completing the Dallas Marathon "Toothfairy Run."
All funds raised will be used for grants to NCOHF affiliate community programs. The grants will be awarded in January 2009.
Held in Dallas Dec. 14, 2008, the event was created and organized by Dr. Miller, president and editor-in-chief of Reality Publishing--a full-service online and print information resource and product testing company. Dr. Miller served as a founding member of the Board of Directors for NCOHF.
Several dental companies, including Bisco, DTI/MicroDental, Heraeus, Kerr/Sybron, nDirect and Ultradent, stepped forward to sponsor the event and support the NCOHF. The mission of the NCOHF is dedicated to eliminating preventable pediatric dental disease.
Pediatric dental disease is the No. 1 chronic childhood illness, causing pain and suffering among millions of children around the world, including more than 4 million in the United States alone. The U.S. Surgeon General has labeled pediatric dental disease a "silent epidemic."
When asked about this effort, Dr. Miller said: "Besides the exhilaration of achieving my own personal goal of finishing a marathon by the age of 60, raising funds to help America's kids whose parents can't afford oral health care was definitely the icing on the cake. Thinking of these kids helped to keep me going during those very long, windy and hot 26 miles."
Fern Ingber, president and CEO of the foundation said, "What a very generous and remarkable way to celebrate a special birthday! We hope that other people will follow Dr. Miller's leadership example and establish their own Toothfairy Run or other Toothfairy sporting event to benefit the growing number of underserved children in need of dental care that breaks the cycle of this preventable disease."
For information on becoming an NCOHF affiliate or to contribute to the fight against pediatric dental disease, call (704) 350-1600 or National Children's Oral Health Foundation.
To read more about the National Children's Oral Health Foundation, go to National Children's Oral Health Foundation.
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