September/October 2017 | Page 19

EDITOR’S NOTE: The next MOM-n-PA event will be held on May 18 and 19, 2018, in Reading at the Santander Arena. Registration for volunteers will open on February 1, 2018 at www.MOM-n-PA.com. On June 16 and 17, mission, and the experience The Erie metropolitan area is in great need of dental care for the underserved and underem- ployed. It has a population of roughly 275,000 people, and approximately 15 percent, or 40,000 people, are below the poverty line. Erie also has one of the largest refugee populations in the state. Although Erie had the smallest population of all the cities we have hosted a mission, we believed it was important to serve in this location where there is ongoing need. learned from our past The mission of MOM-n-PA is: MOM-n-PA held a two-day free dental clinic at the Gannon University Recreation and Wellness Center in Erie. This was MOM-n-PA’s fifth annual missions proved invaluable in making this project Erie continued to build on work from the previous four years where we achieved the following: n Our inaugural two-day mission took place in Philadelphia in 2013. With the help of 1,001 volunteers, MOM-n-PA provided $850,000 in free dental care to 1,820 patients. n Our second mission took place in Allentown, n To relieve the pain and suffering due to dental disease for the under- served at an annual event in Pennsylvania n Educate patients on preventive measures n Compile data on the dental needs of the underserved n Educate policy makers on our findings a success. Our 2017 mission in Erie provided 709 under- served patients with $600,798 worth of dental care with the help of 706 volunteers. where we provided care to 2,047 patients, with our 1,020 volunteers providing $1,004,179 worth of donated care to those in need. n Our 2015 mission took place in Harrisburg, where 976 volunteers provided $875,905 worth of care to 1,705 patients. n Our 2016 mission took place in Pittsburgh. 1,008 volunteers and our sponsors provided $841,959 worth of dental care to the underserved. We are so very happy to report that as of today, MOM-n-PA has completed 25,925 procedures on 7,228 patients. The total value of dental care donated from 2013-2017 is $4,172,841 and this has been accomplished thanks to 4,711 volunteers. As happy as we are with these statistics, we are most proud of the quality of care we provide for the patients we are privileged to treat. SEP TEM BER/OC TOBER 2017 | P EN N SYLVAN IA DEN TAL JOURNAL 17