Help UK Mobile Dental Van Program Win Contest

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 26, 2010) − The University of Kentucky College of Dentistry's Eastern Kentucky Ronald McDonald Care Mobile is participating in a contest through Ronald McDonald House Charities with other Ronald McDonald Care Mobiles all over the world to see who can get the most votes to win a $5,000 grant. Nikki Stone, director of UK's Ronald McDonald Care Mobile dental program, is asking the entire UK community to go online and vote for UK.

The Eastern Kentucky Ronald McDonald Care Mobile dental program is stationed in Hazard at the UK Center for Excellence in Rural Health and provides free dental care to young children in Eastern Kentucky. The grant money will help the UK program to continue providing this service. UK's Care Mobile was donated to the College of Dentistry by Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Bluegrass and is one of only 38 worldwide.

Kentucky children have the second-worst untreated decay rates (over 50 percent) in the nation. The UK College of Dentistry’s mobile dental team has provided over 10,000 dental visits to Head Start and elementary school children in Leslie, Knott, Letcher and Perry Counties on the Care Mobile since 2005.

"The competition is very close," said Stone. "If all of the UK students, faculty and staff had an opportunity to vote, I'm sure they would and we could win by a landslide."

To show your support for UK's mobile dental program, go to: http://rmhc.org/ and place your cursor on the state of Kentucky to vote for the program in Hazard.