We are so grateful for each and every one of our donors and all those who support the work of Community Dental Care.
These gifts allow us to continue our mission so we can meet the needs of the underserved. These are the stories of some of our amazing donors and why they choose to give to Community Dental Care. Thank you for your generous support!
Dr. Stephen Litton
During his career spanning over 40 years, Dr. Stephen Litton served as a practicing orthodontist in the Twin Cities, as well as an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota Department of Anatomy. In addition, Dr. Litton has consistently dedicated his time in service to help others. Dr. Litton serves the community through nonprofit organizations, including Community Dental Care (Board Member), the Minnesota Dental Foundation (President), and Smiles Change Lives (Board Member). Since 2011, Dr. Litton has served as President of the Minnesota Dental Foundation, whose vision is to eliminate unmet oral health needs in Minnesota. When asked why he supports Community Dental Care, he shared “I am impressed by the impact Community Dental Care is making to provide access to underserved populations.”
“We are so grateful to have such a distinguished dental leader as Dr. Litton on our Board, as well as a major donor to support our mission,” remarked Karen Kleinhans, CEO, Community Dental Care. Dr. Litton recently made a major gift for the new Buffalo clinic, in honor of long time CFO Phil Lacher’s retirement. “This gift to the Buffalo clinic will help thousands of people who are struggling to access adequate dental care.”
Dr. Clarence Bass
(1922 - 2021) We honor and remember the life and legacy of Dr. Clarence Bass, one of the founding Board members of Community Dental Care. At age 98, Dr. Bass died surrounded by his loving family. Dr. Bass provided tremendous leadership and thoughtful advice as a CDC Board member for over 15 years. He was known for his giant heart for helping underprivileged communities, and led with a principle to help others less fortunate. Dr. Bass’ contribution to Community Dental Care will be forever treasured. “Clarence was a man of great accomplishments, while also having a humble spirit and deeply caring for others. I will greatly miss his friendship and wisdom,” Cedric Long, Chairman of the Board, shared.
He was greatly loved by his family, former students, missionaries, colleagues, friends and everyone who knew him. Phil Lacher, CFO of Community Dental Care shared, “Clarence was an honest, caring, smart and informed man and I consider it an honor to have called him my friend – he will be missed.”
Carolyn Bass
“This is where I am meant to be,” Carolyn shared as she reflected on her nearly 30-year history with Community Dental Care in St Paul. In the beginning, Carolyn was an advisor to Dr. Peterson’s dental practice, leading staff meetings once a month. As the clinic grew, serving a high number of refugees and immigrants from Southeast Asia, Dr. Peterson recruited her to manage her practice full-time. Since then, Carolyn has dedicated her career to providing compassionate and thoughtful leadership. Carolyn explained, “Oral health is often overlooked when we talk about the overall health of the body. Oral disease causes children to miss more school than for any other reason. Without access to care, it can cause a great deal of pain and, in extreme cases, an infection can travel to your brain and cause death. This continues to be very dear to my heart because we see so many people who are suffering. You also see their gratitude and how you’ve made a difference in their lives.” When asked why she donates to Community Dental Care, Carolyn shared, “When you really believe in something, you invest. You invest your time, your efforts, and your money.” We are deeply grateful for Carolyn’s investment in improving the health of our community.
Phil and Deb Lacher
You may know Phil Lacher, Community Dental Care’s longtime CFO, as the highly competent, reliable and compassionate leader that he is, but did you know he is also one of our longest and largest donors? For over 10 years, Phil and Deb have made monthly contributions to Community Dental Care in support of our mini-grant fund to provide free dental care for children and adults in need. When asked why they give, Phil explained, “My heart is with children. Some of these kids don’t stand a chance in life unless we help them.” Phil prioritizes giving to our mini-grant fund because he knows his gifts go directly to people in need, both adults and children who have urgent dental disease and cannot afford care. “We see so many people who need help, I hope to inspire others to give to the mini-grant fund as well.” Phil has worked for Community Dental Care for more than 12 years, and has seen the organization through both great expansion and many challenges. When asked to comment, Karen Kleinhans, CEO, shared, “I am so grateful for Phil, not only for his expertise, hard work and reliability, but also for his tremendous commitment to our mission. We are so fortunate to have him as our CFO and friend!”
Drs. Adele Della Torre and Spencer Kubo
Thank you to the Kubo Della Torre Charitable Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation for your generous gifts to Community Dental Care! Drs. Adele Della Torre, DDS, and Spencer Kubo, MD, care deeply about the health and well-being of all people. “We believe that every person has a basic right to health care, education, housing, food and employment, and it is our responsibility to work for the common good.” When asked why they give to Community Dental Care, Dr. Della Torre explained, “You serve so many people who suffer from disparities in access to dental care.” Dr. Della Torre, a private dentist in Minneapolis, founded Ready Set Smile in 2013 as a not-for-profit to provide culturally sensitive preventive dental services and education in schools serving low resourced families. “While I have worked in many areas of social justice, as a dentist, I know low income and immigrant families face many barriers in accessing desperately needed oral health care.” Community Dental Care partners with Ready Set Smile to provide restorative care for children with advanced cavities. “We are working toward the same goals and want to support the work that Community Dental Care does for people of all ages.”
Drs. Andrew and Vacharee Peterson
Founders of Community Dental Care, Dr. Andrew and Dr. Vacharee Peterson have been long time donors. They began their practice in 1982 with one dental chair and a mission to deliver care to underserved communities, especially new immigrant, refugee and low-income families. When asked why they support the organization, Dr. Peterson said, “Because they do good work for the community. A verse I would like to share is Proverbs 11:24-25, ‘One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.” Dr. Peterson stated, “I dream to have a cavity free world and it starts small. Brushing is most important—and especially for everyone NOT to go to bed with dirty teeth. It starts with babies and toddlers, but this message can be for everyone.” Dr. Peterson’s passion is to prevent disease in children and is the driving force behind her work. Their legacy and vision continues to live through the staff, volunteers, board and donors of Community Dental Care.
Jane and Mary Campion
When asked why they give, Jane and Mary said, “We support Community Dental Care because dental care is an important part of health care and should be available to ALL PEOPLE.” Thank you to Mary and Jane Campion for their tremendous support in time, talent and treasure. Honoring their father’s legacy as a dentist in the community of Rochester, Jane and Mary serve as Rochester Advisory Council members for Community Dental Care. Jane emphasizes that Dr. Charles Mayo, co-founder of the Mayo Clinic and visionary innovator in health care delivery, stated in 1915, “The next great preventive step in medicine lies with the dentists. Oral hygiene education will do much toward lowering the death rate in Minnesota.”
Dr. Tyler Beinlich
Thank you to Dr. Tyler Beinlich for all that you do for your patients and your gift to Community Dental Care! Dr. Beinlich is a pediatric dentist who provides specialty dental care for children with significant dental disease. When asked about why he made a donation to Community Dental Care, Dr. Beinlich said, “While working at Community Dental Care I saw first-hand how patients received help directly from charitable gifts from donors. I wanted to contribute to keep the work going so that more people could get care.” Dr. Beinlich shared, “When you have a child in the dental chair, in a lot of pain, and you see how brave they are during a procedure that is difficult— and you then see the child realize that they have in themselves the ability to overcome that— it is very rewarding to see them happy at the end of their visit.”