March 25, 2020                                                                         FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Future Smiles Receives $54,900 from #LightTheWorld Holiday Campaign

LAS VEGAS – Future Smiles, a local nonprofit whose mission is to end oral pain and suffering among Nevada’s neediest children by partnering with the community to deliver essential preventive, restorative and educational services, will serve an additional 5,000 students in the Clark County School District thanks to a $54,940 donation from the Las Vegas #LightTheWorld holiday campaign.

The donation, generated from the Giving Machines at Downtown Summerlin® which offered shoppers the opportunity to donate items with the swipe of their credit or debit card, will be used to purchase 5,163 sets of toothbrushes and toothpaste, 696 dental exams and x-rays, 88 protective dental sealants, 113 tooth fillings and one year of dental care for 50 local kids. All services are provided through Future Smiles’ school-based care partnership with the Clark County School District (CCSD) through the nonprofit’s mobile school sealant program, which travels to different CCSD Title I schools, and the organization’s NWP Dental Wellness Center at Elaine Wynn Elementary School.

“Thanks to the generosity of our local community, Future Smiles will be able to provide quality preventative and restorative dental care to more disadvantaged children,” said Terri Chandler, RDH, founder and executive director, Future Smiles.  “We’re grateful to #LightTheWorld for creating this amazing opportunity.”

Six nonprofit organizations participated in the Las Vegas #LightTheWorld Giving Machines with Future Smiles, including Three Square, Eye Care 4 Kids, Communities in Schools of Nevada, Opportunity Village, UNICEF and Church World Services Global.

Items available for donation ranged in price from $2 to $320, and included staple items such as laundry pods, school supplies, eyeglasses, dental exams and hygiene items, group community outings, fresh produce, meals, and Polio vaccines and chickens for a family in a developing country.

-MORE-

The #LightTheWorld Giving Machines started in 2017.  The Downtown Summerlin location served as the only Las Vegas outpost and raised $823,955 in donations, with 13,473 transactions and 41,492 items donated.

About Future Smiles

The mission of Future Smiles is to increase access to dental health care for underserved populations. Founded in 2009, Future Smiles is Southern Nevada’s largest school-based preventive and restorative dental health program directly serving more than 6,000 students annually. Its goal is to improve overall health, which includes oral health, by eliminating health care barriers ending dental pain and suffering for Southern Nevada’s youth. To learn more about Future Smiles, visit www.futuresmiles.net.

For media inquiries, please contact Susan Somers, Managing Member, FM Marketing LLC, 702-249-9900 or susan@fmmpr.com.

###