The Two Harbors Lion's Club invests in little smiles

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Photo by Tammy Francois

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Smiles at Minnehaha Elementary School will be brighter in the New Year thanks to a donation by the Two Harbors Lion’s Club. Monday local Lion, Al Peterson presented Laura Jackson of Just for Kids Dental with a check for $500.

Peterson said the decision to support the Two Harbors- based non-profit was not a hard sell to Lion’s Club members.

“Laura (Jackson) and Missy (Gens) came over and gave a presentation. A motion was made to donate $500 and it passed unanimously,” Peterson said, adding that he hopes the Lions can make it an annual donation.

Just for Kids Dental was founded in 2006 by Stacey Anderson. Since that time JKD has provided preventative care to over 10,000 underserved kids in three Minnesota counties and Douglas County, Wisconsin. Kids receive care at clinics set up in their schools.

According to its website, www.justkidsdentalinc.org , services include dental cleanings, fluoride varnish applications, sealants, oral and nutritional education, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss. Children in need of further care are referred to dentists in their area.

“We provide each child with three visits annually, said Jackson, who estimated that JKD served about 30 kids at Minnehaha in 2006. “Next year I would project that we will see 150 students.” She said the need continues to increase.

While this was a first time donation for the Lion’s Club, Peterson’s business, Auto Value in Two Harbors, has been a JKD sponsor since September. His store on Seventh Street in Two Harbors is also a Toys for Tots drop-off site, although he says donations have been down this year.

“Right now we have two toys for boys and a book,” he said. Auto Value gives the toys it collects to North Shore Horizons, an organization serving battered women and their children. Peterson said he’ll happily accept donations of new, unwrapped toys until Dec. 24.

News-Chronicle readers who would like to make a donation to Just Kids Dental can do so by going to the website (see above). For many people, donations made before Jan.1 are tax deductible for 2012 and can be made with a few key strokes and the click of a mouse. To keep up to date with JKD news and events, ‘like’ them on Facebook.

Tags: two harbors, just kids dental, lions club, life, news