The third Florida Mission of Mercy event took place in Pensacola, sponsored by the Northwest District Dental Assoc. on March 23 – 25, 2017. Check it out at https://www.floridadental.org/foundation/programs/mission-of-mercy . The planning, preparation and actual implementation, much behind the scenes, was progressing long before the actual event date. The fund raising is a major undertaking to be able to put on this event and this has progressed to where there is now seed money to get the next event going. More than $350,000 in donations and in-kind services were raised. Besides many individual donations, just about every dental supply company & a great many dental manufacturers and local businesses and organizations were donors. Many companies actually had their representatives on hand to help with their equipment and supplies.
The man power commitment to carry on the event is most significant in all areas. More than 1500 volunteer professional, administrative, technical people were present and even the tasks like emptying the trash were handled. All three dental schools were also represented by students and faculty, as well as most of the FDA staff. The bulk of the leadership and participation was certainly from the Northwest District, but major contributions were from all over the state. Dentists and staff from Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama and many other states were on hand to treat the more than 1800 patients who showed up for treatment. An impact study was done for this event (and is becoming the model other states will use) and this provided statistical evidence that this project reduces the demand for emergency oral care services within the local Emergency Room facilities.