FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lindsey Edmondson
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Phone: (404) 487-5868
Cell: (770) 715-4161
E-mail: ledmondson@bgca.org

BOYS & GIRLS CLUBS OF AMERICA AND CREST HEALTHY SMILES 2010 ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF CREST SMILE AMBASSADOR SCHOLARSHIPS

ORLANDO, Fla., Apr. 2, 2005—Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Crest Healthy Smiles 2010 (CHS 2010) today awarded five Boys & Girls Club members each with a $5,000 Crest Smile Ambassador Scholarship. The scholarship is designed to increase Club member interest in public health professions, particularly in the area of oral health. It also is the newest component of the Cavity-Free Zone (CFZ), a program developed by BGCA and CHS 2010 to provide oral health education, tools and increased access to dental professionals for Boys & Girls Club members nationwide.

The five scholarship recipients are as follows: Kara Dragone, Sarah Heinz House Boys & Girls Club; Jeremy Hudson, The Oprah Winfrey Boys & Girls Club of Kosciusko and Attala County; Lacie Caudill, Boys & Girls Clubs of Ottawa County; Laura Price, Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago; and Kristina Fryman, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale. All were honored at a special ceremony held during BGCA’s National TEENSupreme® Keystone Conference, an annual summit of more than 1,500 Club teens from across the United States.

According to a recent U.S. Surgeon General’s report, oral disease is at an epidemic level in America, especially among underserved children. The report also found that the number of dental health professionals in the United States is declining and that there is a lack of members from racial and ethnic minority groups entering the field.

“Since the creation of Crest Healthy Smiles 2010, we have worked in various ways to provide substantive, long-term solutions to the oral health crisis facing America’s youth,” said Diane Dietz, general manager, Procter & Gamble North American Oral Care. “With the Crest Smile Ambassador Scholarship program, we hope to encourage our youth to choose a career in oral health and help reverse the current decline in the numbers of dental health professionals in this country.”

In order to be eligible for the scholarship, the five recipients had to demonstrate that they had made outstanding contributions to their local Club, school and community; maintained a 3.0 GPA; spent time shadowing a local dental professional; and have an interest in a public health profession.

“Our Boys & Girls Clubs are grateful to Crest Healthy Smiles 2010 for working with us to continuously teach Club members how to create and maintain healthy smiles,” said Judith J. Pickens, senior vice president of program services at BGCA. “We also appreciate their efforts, through the Crest Smile Ambassador Scholarship program, to help members realize their dreams of pursuing a career in the public health arena.”

In response to the Surgeon General’s report, Crest created CHS 2010 to provide underserved communities with tools, education and access to dental professionals. CHS 2010 is dedicated to making a significant impact on the oral health of 50 million children and their families by 2010. To reach this goal, CHS 2010 partnered with BGCA to improve the oral health of its members.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Boys & Girls Clubs of America (www.bgca.org) comprises a national network of some 3,400 neighborhood-based facilities annually serving more than 4 million young people, primarily from disadvantaged circumstances. Known as “The Positive Place for Kids,” the Clubs provide guidance-oriented character development programs on a daily basis for children 6-18 years old, conducted by a full-time professional staff. Key Boys & Girls Club programs emphasize character and leadership development, education and career development, health and life skills, the arts, sports, fitness and recreation.

About Crest Healthy Smiles 2010

Based on the principle that good oral health is integral to overall health, Crest Healthy Smiles 2010 combines the passionate vision of Crest with the resources of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the American Dental Association, and other leading members of the dental community to affect real change in the state of the country’s oral health by 2010. Crest is also working with dental schools and local communities to sponsor mobile dental clinics that bring full service dental support to areas in need, as well as building upon its 40-year tradition of broad-based in-school health education programs which reach 90 percent of first graders. The program will reach more than 50 million children and their families by 2010.