Island Health & Wellness Foundation (IH&WF) is the recipient of a $10,000 grant from The Betterment Fund. The funding will be used to provide oral health education and screenings at local schools and day care centers over the next three years. 

Anne West, IH&WF’s Executive Director, explains that “While in the past we have received some funding for dental outreach work in the Deer Isle community, Drs. Wendy Alpaugh and Brian van Emmerik have used much of their own time and resources to provide oral health education to local children. Receiving these funds will be a huge boost to the amount of services they can provide outside the four walls of their Stonington office. We are so thankful that the Betterment Fund recognized this significant community need and chose to fund this work.”

Wendy Alpaugh, DMD adds, “This grant allows us to provide more in depth strategies than we were able to do in the past. Dental disease can be prevented if good habits start early in a child’s life and are reinforced over their childhood. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet the oral health needs of more members of our community.”

The Betterment Fund was created through the will of William Bingham II. Mr. Bingham was a philanthropist with a passion for education and improvement of health services in the State of Maine.  West adds, “One of the primary focuses of the Fund is improving oral health in Maine, especially for children. This is a natural fit for the vision that our dentists share of reaching children as early as possible and showing them how to take good care of their teeth, setting them up for a lifetime of good oral health. We are so fortunate to have such committed providers here, as well as educators and day care providers, who are willing to work collaboratively to make this happen.”

For more information on this program and the work of Island Health & Wellness Foundation please contact Anne West at IHWF1966@gmail.com .