Clinicas de Salud to take part in Red Nose Day

In an effort to help transform the lives of children living in poverty, Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo community health workers will be hosting a Red Nose Day fundraiser Thursday morning.

From 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., donation tables will be set up at Brawley Dental, 1166 K St., Brawley Medical, 900 Main St., Calexico Medical and Dental, 233 W. Cole Blvd., and El Centro Medical, 651 Wake Ave.

A red nose will be given for every $1 donation. Red noses bought at Walgreens the same day will also go to the RND fund.

Donation tables will also have a Red Nose Day picture frame for taking pictures and posting them on social media and free health information for all ages.

RND is a fundraising campaign ran by the nonprofit organization Comic Relief Inc., a registered public charity.

Funds raised are distributed to selected nonprofit organizations around the country that submit a proposal on how they plan to help underprivileged children if funds were granted.

Clinicas, via the National Council of La Raza’s Healthy and Ready for the Future Initiative, received $50,000 from the RND fund last year. They were one of the six organizations across the United States that were granted funds.

With their RND funds, Clinicas de Salud created an outreach program that raises awareness on the importance of dental care. Presentations have been given at local health fairs, migrant head start programs, day care centers and preschools.

According to Clinicas’ Director of Programs Leticia Ibarra, the outreach program has brought approximately 1,500 kids into their dental clinics to get services.

Supported by RND funds, a mother from Westmorland who believed she had no health coverage was able to have cavities from her two sons, Miguel Angel and Jose Luis, treated after meeting with two Clinicas community health workers.

Clinicas de Salud has already submitted its application for renewal and plan to use any funds given from RND to continue to promote the importance of child dental health.

Due to its support for the RND program, Clinicas will have approximately 200 staff helping with donations this year, an increase from the 50 that helped last year.

“Children living in poverty are at high risk of having cavities, people just overlook that. Just because someone is four years old doesn’t mean they have to suffer,” stated Ibarra on the importance of children’s dental care.