Good works can lead to a great smile.
Do you know someone who is doing good deeds, helping out others in need around Richmond and who could benefit from some dental work? Dentist David Kemler wants to hear from you.
Kemler has a campaign underway called Something to Smile About, in which he will donate dental care to someone in need. You can make a nomination here. He’s taken nominations from his patients, and is now accepting nominations from the community at large.
Richmond dentist David Kemler
The qualifications are simple: he’s looking for someone known for helping others who needs dental work to give them a great smile, but whose financial situation has held them back from visiting a dentist.
He came up with the idea after meeting a clerk in a retail business who was outstanding in the job, but whose teeth were in dire need of work. He gave the worker his card and said he could help, but never heard from him, and was concerned that he had inadvertently hurt the person’s feelings.
Kemler says he just wants to give back to the community.
“I know there’s a lot of people out there. You see it every day,” he says.
He says that over the years he’s had patients who received extensive treatments and then failed to pay for the work. With Something to Smile About, he can give work to someone who’s worthy.
“That is so much more fun than the other way around,” he says.
SWIFT MEDICINE
The Chippenham Hospital Swift Creek ER facility opens on Tuesday, March 15.
On Saturday, HCA will celebrate the opening with an event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the facility, 14720 Hancock Village Street, off Hull Street Road and in front of the Hobby Lobby, according to a release.
Swift Creek ER
The Chippenham Hospital Swift Creek ER
The event will feature tours, free health screenings, food and activities for children, including a chance to meet first responders from ambulance, firefighters, police and helicopter teams.
The 11,500-square-foot Swift Creek facility is a full-service ER, with separate waiting areas for adult and pediatric patients and an on-site laboratory. It will be staffed around the clock, and it’s also wired to provide telemedicine interactivity with Chippenham and Johnston-Willis hospitals.
Call 320-DOCS (3627).
HIKE AND BREW
You’ve got to love an event that melds a 10-mile urban hike with beer, all for a good cause.
The event is Hike RVA for the Cure, a fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, to be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 2. It’s a round-trip walk that ends at Legend Brewing Co., 321 W. 7th St.
Admission is $40, which includes a T-shirt and a post-hike lunch on the deck at the brewery, and many of its adult beverages, too (you must be 18 or older to participate, 21 or older to drink). Call 527-1500, or email Virginia@cff.org.
BEHIND THE MASK
Black tie is optional for the Carnevale Ball, the annual fundraiser for the Commonwealth Catholic Charities that will be held from 6 to 11 p.m. on April 9 at the Westin Richmond, 6631 Broad St.
The theme is "A Night in Venice." The event will feature a silent auction, hors d’oeuvres and dinner, an open bar, music, dancing and games. Masks or carnival-themed attire is encouraged, and masks will be sold at the event. The charity provides services including counseling, foster care, pregnancy counseling, financial and housing help, emergency food and refugee resettlement services. Admission is $110, with tickets available at door, unless sold out. cccofva.org or 545-6954.
TROUBLING STATS
The medical community is making great strides in treating cancer, with declining rates overall nationally, but there’s one troubling exception: The rate of liver cancer has risen dramatically, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, which was released on Wednesday.
From 2003 to 2012, liver cancer cases increased 38 percent, and increased about 2.3 percent per year from 2008 to 2012. The number of deaths from the disease in 2003-2012 rose by 56 percent, with men more than twice as likely to die from liver cancer than women.
Hepatitis C causes about 20 percent of liver cancer; most people with Hepatitis C are baby boomers, those born between 1945 to 1965, which is why the CDC recommends that age group be tested for the disease.
CDC Cancer large
