I am so excited to participate in my first ever Simple Service Project with Champions for Kids. One thing I really love about blogging is being able to share helpful information. This week, we’re taking being helpful to the next level and are donating tooth care products to our local Food Pantry in an effort to Help {local kiddos} Smile.

Did You Know?
• Over 19% of children ages 2-19 have untreated cavities. A child’s complete
preventive dental program should include fluoride, at least twice-daily brushing,
wise food choices, and regular dental care.
• Tooth decay remains one of the most common diseases of childhood. Children
living in poverty suffer twice as much tooth decay as their more affluent peers,
and their disease is more likely to go untreated.
• The daily reality for children with untreated oral disease is often persistent pain,
inability to eat comfortably or chew well, embarrassment at discolored and
damaged teeth, and distraction from play and learning.

Good oral care is a subject I am very passionate about – I’ve even blogged about making tooth brushing fun for kids because, honestly, sometimes it’s a struggle in my house. {I’m not going to lie to you!} And my kids get tooth care products from our very boring Easter Bunny & Santa Claus every year! Hehe.

I’ve had quite a few dental problems in my years and my oldest daughter seems to be following in my footsteps despite a great oral-care regimen. My kids are lucky: they have fun tooth brushes and flossers and yummy toothpaste. And they go to the dentist twice a year. Many kids aren’t that lucky. So when I heard about the Simple Service Project, I jumped on board. The SSP has four goals:

GATHER friends, family, and co-workers.
LEARN about the needs of children in your community.
GIVE items to help kids enjoy happier and healthier lives.
SHARE your story with us to inspire others.

I contacted our local food pantry to see if they could use dental care donations and found out they can. The coordinator told me they are very low on toothbrushes, only have travel sized toothpaste, and no dental floss. I’m glad to be able to give useful products to a local group. And so my kids and I were excited to head out to Walmart to find some great dental care products to give away.

My two youngest girls were very excited to get new Arm & Hammer Spinbrushes. They’ve been coveting these toothbrushes for a long time. It’s the stickers, I’m pretty sure! Whatever the reason, if it helps my kids want to brush their teeth, I’m all for it.

Champions for Kids’ motto is buy 2, donate 1 and we did that. We got two girl Spinbrushes, one boy Spinbrush and a host of other dental care products as well. You can see a bunch of pictures from our shopping trip at my Google + Album.
Once we got home my girls had a lot of fun decorating the toothbrushes – they tore right into the boxes {and one of them didn’t even wait until we got home to tear into the box…she ate it at Walmart!} Yes, I’m a great mom some days. Oh well. There were enough stickers in the packages that my oldest daughter was also able to decorate her SoniCare too. {Since she’s had quite a few problems with her teeth, I invested in a super expensive toothbrush in the hope that it will help us keep her teeth extra shiny and cavity-free.}

And here are my girls’ newly decorated toothbrushes! They all love them, and fortunately, Ben is happy with the idea of donating the “boy” Spinbrush to the food pantry.

And now, I’m calling on my friends and family to donate to the cause! I’ll be collecting items this week and will take everything over to the Food Pantry the following week. Watch for a blog post about that, too, to see what we come up with!

For more information about Simple Service Projects or the Spin Into Action Campaign, click on any of the following links:

Champions4Kids website
Champions4Kids on Twitter
Champions4Kids on Facebook
Spinbrush/Arm&Hammer on Facebook
Spinbrush /Arm&Hammer on Twitter

If you’ve like to buy your own Spinbrush or maybe even one to donate, take along this $2 off coupon! If I would’ve had mine, I could have saved $6!! Meesh… And don’t forget to check back in a couple of weeks to see how our donation goes! I’m really excited to take everything over to the Food Pantry. If any of my local readers would like to contribute to the cause, please send me an email or a message on Facebook!!

Disclosure: I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Champions For Kids #CBias #SocialFabric