Kid Wins $10,000 for Dental Clinic

Kid’s art contests can be a fun way to encourage creativity in young people, but mix that will promoting good dental hygiene and you have a real winner! Kevin McAffe of Jacksonville, Florida is one of 10 winners of the nationwide art contest “Be a tooth fairy hero” sponsored by Tom’s of Maine. The brand is already known for good, all-natural toothpastes and other products but this contest attests to their commitment to social change as well. The goal of the contest was to raise community awareness about the need for greater access to dental care. The prize of $10,000 would be awarded to a non-profit dental clinic of the winner’s choice. Kevin choice? The Sulzbacher Center of northeast Florida, the largest provider of comprehensive services  and general dentistry for homeless people in the area. “It’s like our prayers have been answered because we’ve been wondering how we were going to replace the two x-ray machines that have been broken in our clinic for a while and it just seemed like it was a blessing,” said Allison Vega of the Sulzbacher Center.

It starts at home

Keven entered the contest for the sole purpose of helping the Sulzbacher Center, where he and his family volunteer. His mother, Seana McAfee, says that they’ve tried to instill in their children the importance of helping others. She found out about this contest and several others through her sister who is an art teacher at a local high school. “We do it on rainy days on Sunday and Saturday afternoons when I don’t want them playing video games.  He loves it and loves to do it and it’s good for him and we almost won every single one. It’s crazy,” says his mother. So, what did he draw? “I drew the tooth fairy flying away from her castle to go collect teeth,” Kevin explains.