CDND in the Community
The Crayon Initiative
Help us help others! We’re partnering with the Crayon Initiative!
The Crayon Initiative collects donated used and new crayons from restaurants, schools, and families across the country. They melt them down and remanufacture them into new crayons to reduce waste. The recycled crayons are distributed to arts programs at children’s hospitals across the U.S., and brighten the lives of young patients during their stay!
When children are hospitalized, it’s vital for their happiness and development to maintain a sense of normalcy during their stay. Art programs do just that by providing patients with a creative outlet to express themselves. Here at CDND, we enjoy seeing happier kids and a cleaner Earth. Supporting the Crayon Initiative helps two excellent causes in one!
To learn more about our process and how we’re making a difference, please call our office.
Give Kids a Smile
Once a year, the Dallas dental community comes together to serve underprivileged children. This year, 21 Dallas Independent School District locations were filled not only with the excited laughs and smiles of schoolchildren, but with dental care professionals as well!
Approximately 1,100 elementary-school-age children in afterschool programs were invited to receive free dental screenings and oral care demonstrations as part of Give Kids a Smile, an American Dental Association program that brings dentists and other volunteers together to provide screenings, treatments, and education to underserved children throughout the United States.
United Service Organization
Every Halloween, we gather candy donations for soldiers overseas. All proceeds go directly to the USO. We make it exciting by raffling off fun prizes to those who donate their candy.
Career Fair
Throughout the school year, we participate in career fairs within the Dallas community. We visit local schools in Dallas and provide information on career opportunities, toothbrushes, and more!
Colgate Bus
The Colgate bus is a mobile bus that provides visual oral exams to underserved children. We love participating with this bus on wheels!
Watermark Dental Clinic
Once a month, we participate in Watermark’s extraction clinic and provide free dental care to those in the community in need.
Volunteering Abroad
In 2019, Dr. Shah had the privilege of visiting an HIV-positive orphanage in India. The children’s red-light-district mothers had abandoned them or passed away from AIDS. Sitting outside on a balcony, she examined them one-by-one with a pillow in her lap.
Most had never seen a dentist. Many needed urgent attention for infections, toothaches, broken teeth, and even oral cancer. But because of their HIV-positive status, most doctors refuse to touch them. These kids know that Indian society deems them “untouchable.”
Perhaps this is why these 44 children reclined back into a stranger’s lap with no hesitation. They needed to get their teeth checked. But more than that, they needed human touch.
Dr. Colven has been involved with youth-service organizations since college at UNC. In dental school, he had the chance to volunteer on a mission trip to Uganda, in addition to other youth-education programs. Dr. Colven is eager to get more involved in the community in Dallas and is particularly interested in LGBT youth empowerment.
Cultures of Dignity
Cultures of Dignity is an organization founded by author and educator Rosalind Wiseman which works with communities to shift the way we think about young people’s physical and emotional well-being.
CDND stands with Cultures of Dignity against hatred, bigotry, and fear. We support our community to build strength, courage, and purpose.
CDND shares these Core Values with Cultures of Dignity
- Honor the role young people play in building communities of dignity
- Recognize that adults need the best research and concrete skills to work with young people
- Appreciate and acknowledge that this work is messy and ongoing