When Dr. Tom Pekar and 1,200 of his fellow members of Crown Council dentists watched a three-hour Garth Brooks concert in Nashville recently, there was more to it than just entertainment during their annual conference. The dental professionals were there to celebrate a 10-year partnership with the entertainer himself, but in this partnership the health and wellbeing of children takes centre stage. The Crown Council, an alliance of dedicated, community minded dental teams, established their Smiles for Life Foundation to raise money annually for children’s charities in the United States and Canada. And they do it by whitening people’s teeth. Some $24 million has been raised so far since the annual campaign was launched, says Dr. Pekar, and between March 1 and June 30, the dentists are hoping to raise even more. The formula is simple. They will whiten your teeth at less than the usual fee during those months and every cent will be donated to needy children. At the same time that the Crown Council was establishing its children’s foundation, Garth Brooks was coincidentally setting up his Teammates for Kids Foundation. “The two groups were totally independent of each other,” Dr, Pekar notes. “But we soon realized how much more effective we could be if we worked together. Garth Brooks agreed and matches us dollar for dollar, raising his own money. “At first all the money went to children’s charities throughout North America. Recently, it was decided that half the money raised should stay within our own communities.” Deciding the best recipient to distribute the money was easy for the 25 year Rotary Club member. “Almost $20,000 was raised by tooth whitening and distributed in our own communities in the last three years by the Rotary Club of St. Catharines,” the doctor adds. His office team hopes to target $25,000 this year. Of every dollar one half returns here, one quarter goes to a Canadian charity and one quarter to benefit children around the world. This, after being matched by Garth Brooks. Discus Dental provides the whitening materials, Orchid Dental Ceramics provides the custom trays, Sinclair Dental provides trays and plaster, while the dentists donate their time and professional services which include an Oral Cancer Screening exam by touch and intra oral camera. It’s an opportunity for people to get that brighter smile they’ve always wanted and at the same time improve the lot of thousands of children in need, says Dr. Pekar. “The Smiles for Life campaign is also helping us finance an upcoming volunteer visit to do dentistry in the Dominican Republic, to help a dental school and the community clinic become self-sustaining,” he adds. “We’re really excited , because this is a win win for Rotary, for children in Niagara as well as abroad, and all those who want to their outside smile to be as bright as their inside smile. Call us to see how easy it is.”