November was a full month at the clinic, full of patient visits with our volunteer dentists and students. We held our Appreciation Event and celebrated the success stories of patients who have received care at the Cura Smiles clinic. Amazing things are happening at Cura Smiles!
In this month's newsletter, we want to introduce you to our new Executive Director, share how our "Three Ways to Give" fundraising initiative is going, and most importantly, share a patient story. This is the whole reason we do what we do, to see smiles restored.
Thank you for joining with us as we work to restore smiles and provide dental care to people in underserved communities.
Meet our New Director
Christine Passmore has joined the Cura Smiles team as the new Executive Director. Christine graduated from San Diego State University, Point Loma Nazarene University, and Northwest Nazarene University with degrees in education. As a former English teacher and K-12 Principal, Christine and her husband, Aaron, and two children, Zeke and Damari, lived in Quito, Ecuador for 10 years as missionaries. They returned to San Diego in July, 2024, and she is excited to join the Cura Smiles team to help impact and transform the lives of those needing dental care. With a long history of working in nonprofit organizations, Christine is excited to support the work that Cura Smiles is doing.
Three Ways (Now Two!) to Give
A few weeks ago, we introduced three ways that you can join (or continue on) the Cura Smiles support team: commit to monthly giving, contribute on Giving Tuesday, or give to Cura Smiles in your year-end giving.
Giving Tuesday was last week, and we are excited to announce that we received $6,600 of support from donors and the Board of Directors. Thank you so much for your generous support!
Now that Giving Tuesday has passed, there are two ways you can financially support Cura Smiles:
1. Most importantly, we are looking to raise $15,000 in monthly donations to Cura Smiles. This $15k will cover overhead costs of running the clinic, and will allow us to operate with confident knowledge that we can provide for the needs of the clinic on an ongoing basis.
Please consider joining our team of monthly supporters! Any donation amount helps, but if you need a suggestion, please consider joining one of these donor groups below. The monthly donor graph has been updated below. Thanks to you, we are making good progress, but we are still looking to raise around $14,300 a month.
We need a total of 173 monthly supporters to reach our goal, and we currently have 4 donors giving a total of $680 a month. Join us in our mission to restore smiles by providing the highest level of dental care to people in underserved communities, free of cost.
2. Donate to Cura Smiles as part of your year-end giving. If you would like to do so, you can donate online (click the "Donate Today" button below) or mail a check to:
Cura Smiles
3952 D Clairemont Mesa Blvd., Suite 222
San Diego, CA 92117
Patient Story
This sweet boy came to Cura Smiles last week with a toothache. He will return at least once more to make sure he has the healthiest teeth possible, but this boy's current situation is why we are so passionate about oral health education. We want parents and children to know how to care for themselves so they can thrive and have healthy teeth and smiles! We work hard to preventatively work with families so children don't have to experience pain. We look forward to helping this boy regain his smile and prevent further complications.