Students, Staff, and Alums Team Up at Mattapan Health Revival
The BU chapter of the Student National Dental Association (SNDA) worked with the Division of Community Health Programs and Oral Health Promotion Director Kathy Lituri to organize a volunteer effort at the Mattapan Health Revival on Saturday, September 8, 2012. SNDA members Brittney Barrow DMD 14, Marissa Kobewka DMD 15, and Wyatt Traina DMD 14 took the lead, organizing the event at Mattapan Community Health Center with Ms. Lituri.
The mission of Mattapan Community Health Center is to improve the quality of life for residents of Mattapan and surrounding communities by providing comprehensive, accessible, affordable, and culturally-appropriate community health care services, including primary and preventive health services. Alumni Lisa Thompson DMD 05 and Mireille Alexis DMD 97, who are both part of the Mattapan Community Health Center team, joined volunteers from the Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine (GSDM).
GSDM volunteers offered free dental screenings and oral health information and interactive education. By the end of the six-hour day, they had screened 99 people and interacted with hundreds more.
In addition to Drs. Thompson and Alexis, volunteers included Abdul-Rahman Addas AS 14, Kaveh Baharvand Ahmadi AS 14, Muhammad Ali Shazib AS 14, Steven Armbrust DMD 16, Brittney Barrow DMD 14, Sonal Chhanabhai DMD 15, Kayla Cuddy DMD 16, Thomas Keeling DMD 14, Marisa Kobewka DMD 15, Jae Kwak DMD 16, Luri Lee DMD 16, Richard Liu AS 14, Alyssa Mazzoli DMD 16, Jessica Metcalf DMD 14, Champaka Nagaraju AS 14, Maidelys Oliva DMD 14, Khamir Patel AS 14, Daniella Rizzo DMD 16, Amrita Sandhu DMD 15, Sara Sheikh AS 14, Hajra Sheikh AS 14, Jonathan Solomon DMD 16, Wyatt Traina DMD 14, Karina Vergara DMD 14.
In thanking the volunteers, Ms. Lituri said, “I know that each and every one of you had a positive impact on the people that you encountered. It is because of students like you that CHP and in this case, SNDA, is able to effectively participate in such community-based events.”