Donate Now!

Taking an active role in giving back to one’s community or even one’s profession by providing services to the underserved and needy is a natural outgrowth of who we are as a people, as a business, and as an industry. It is a social responsibility born out of a desire to help others and an opportunity to impact change and help make a difference in the lives of others.

We all have charities or causes that we support, giving freely of our time, sharing our knowledge, expertise, and skills, and, for many, generously donating money to a particular institution or organization. Volunteering in all its forms is a payback for those whose mentoring and support have made a difference in our own lives or businesses.

Now it’s time to give back to the dental technology profession. This month and next you have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of colleagues involved in the dental technology industry. How? By making a generous donation to the National Association of Dental Laboratories’ Foundation for Dental Laboratory Technology or to one of the triathletes who will be swimming, biking, and running in this year’s third annual Race for the Future triathlon in Longboat Key, Florida, on Sunday, October 16.

IDT is a strong supporter, and one of the founding members, of the Race for the Future. It is an event we strongly believe in because the mission is to raise money to help the Foundation increase awareness for the necessity of dental laboratory technology education for dental laboratory technicians and improve the educational climate for future technicians. The purpose is to advance the industry by developing and providing annual educational grants and scholarships for fellow technicians and students as well as to provide grants for our accredited educational programs. The Foundation is also in the process of creating a web-based national curriculum for the industry that will incorporate industry-driven needs.

The first two Race for the Future events, in Chicago and then Nashville, raised more than $100,000 for the Foundation. This year’s goal is to raise an additional $50,000. So please open up your pocketbooks and wallets to support the industry that has supported you and contribute to ensure an educated workforce for the future. The Foundation needs your support.

If you would like to support one of the triathletes in this year’s race, then I would like to suggest you donate in the name of IDT’s team representative participating this year, Valerie Berger, VP of the Laboratory Division for AEGIS Communications. This will be the second triathlon in which Valerie has competed in support of the Foundation.

Donating is easy! You can donate instantly by going to nadl.org/dltf/donate-online.cfm. Once you have filled out the information, click on “Race for the Future - Sponsor an Athlete!” and then write in Valerie’s name.

To understand how the money raised impacted the lives and educational programs of 2015 scholarship and grant recipients, read their testimonials at dentallabfoundation.org/index.cfm. We are counting on you this year to hit or exceed the $50,000 goal!

Pam Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
pjohnson@aegiscomm.com