Support PRF: Bringing Smiles to Children Worldwide

The reason for the fundraiser:

All children around the world deserve reliable and affordable access to dental care. In the U.S., a kid's annual (or biannual) visit to the dentist is a regular, albeit perhaps dreaded, occurrence.

A typical trip to the dentist for a child may consist of fluoride varnish treatment to help prevent tooth decay (~$40), extraction(s) (~$100), and silver diamine fluoride treatment if there is a little decay (~$20). The total cost of care would of course include the cost of the office visit itself. Overall, such dental care costs are reasonably affordable for many families in the United States and other high-income countries.

However, in countries like Zambia, the Philippines, and Cabo Verde, dental care affordability and access can be limited. If the total number of children we treated in 2024 all required the basic dental treatments noted above, such dental care could roughly cost up to $1.9 million in the United States.

The actual cost to the families in the countries we work in is zero thanks to the hard work and expertise of our dedicated volunteers.

In February 2024, our team was able to treat 1,238 children in Davao City, Philippines; in May 2024, our team was able to treat 5,490 children in Livingstone and Choma, Zambia; and in October 2024, our team was able to treat 1,068 children in Fogo, Cabo Verde.

As we now face plans for next year, we have had to make the incredibly difficult decision to close our dental program in Zambia, due to the changing bureaucratic environment that has ultimately made it impossible to continue our work there. Although it is a painful transition, with the close connections and relationships we've developed in the communities we've served, we are hopeful and excited to explore new countries where we can bring our mission of free accessible dental care to children in need.

Establishing a new program from scratch is both thrilling and demanding, as it requires significant resources, planning, and outreach to local partners and authorities. We are currently in discussions with potential host countries and communities to assess the greatest needs and determine how we can work with local leaders to deliver meaningful, lasting care.

Building a new program isn't just about logistics – it involves finding the right place where our services will have the maximum impact, creating the infrastructure to support dental care delivery, and equipping teams with the supplies and training they need. We hope you will consider supporting our work, as every donation helps us cover the costs of continuing our work in established countries as well as launching new programs, which can entail the costs of transportation and equipment to the critical first supplies that make care possible.

Our overhead costs are still the same, ZERO – your donation will go solely to the dental care of the children we treat.

Thank you for being part of this journey with us. We are looking forward to what the future holds and to bringing smiles to new communities worldwide.

More about our mission:

We are a team of volunteers who, as part of the Phillips Renner Foundation (PRF)*, travel to underserved communities around the world to treat children's dental needs. Many children in such communities lack access to even basic dental care, and our volunteers assess and provide pro bono dental treatment as well as nutrition and oral health education.

We are raising money to continue the essential and impactful work that PRF is committed to. Any donation will help make a difference, and would be used towards covering any necessary costs (such as procuring needed dental equipment and supplies) for each dental mission trip.

We thank you in advance for your contribution to our collective cause - and for actively caring about improving children's lives worldwide.

Phillips Renner Foundation website link (for more info on our mission)

PayPal donation link on website

*PRF is a full 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. Tax ID number 83-4554244. Your donation is tax deductible to the full extent of the current tax law. Every penny of your donation is pure and goes exclusively to family/children's care.