The Benco Family Foundation supports Global Smile Foundation’s efforts to bring first-class surgeons to more than 400 patients in the developing world suffering from congenital facial deformities. The largest group served are children with cleft lips and palates. Without surgery, simple tasks like eating and talking are extremely difficult, not to mention the social stigma of living with a very visible facial deformity. And, it’s all fixable. With the help of the Foundation, Global Smiles and their hundreds of medical and dental volunteers have been performing these life-changing surgeries for over 30 years.

United Way and the Benco Family Foundation support not only our community, but your local community too. This year you generously contributed nearly $57,000, which was matched by your Foundation. You and the Benco Family Foundation are working with United Way to conquer childhood poverty through Real Men Read, a volunteer reading program that brings in MENtors from the community to read to kindergarten students for one hour each month to help foster early literacy; and through the Nurses Pantry Program which ensures all students and families have basic necessities like school uniforms, medicated shampoos, underwear or a toothbrush, to help keep children in school and learning.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have a dental school close by providing free services. Sometimes just finding a dentist is difficult. In the Pacific Northwest, thousands of people live in remote communities with minimal access to dental professionals but are in dire need of dental care. Medical Teams International recognized the need to bring treatment to those that don’t have it and mobilized 11 dental RV’s fully equipped, with help from the Benco Family Foundation, last year reaching over 20,000 people with free oral health care.

Addressing the learning and developmental needs of vulnerable young children is a complex endeavor. That’s why the Benco Family Foundation supports Head Start in multiple and unique ways. Each and every year, we donate over 3,000 toothbrushes to our Luzerne County chapter to ensure kids posess the most essential tool for maintaining oral health. We also adopt two classrooms, sponsor field trips, volunteer in person and raise additional funds through company “Jeans Days” at our headquarters where Benco Dental associates donate and dress down. And because successful Head Starters often go on to pursue higher education, we provide $2,000 annual scholarships for program graduates attending college.