PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — It’s been five years since the nonprofit St. Appolonia Dental Clinic opened, and the need for affordable youth dental care continues.
Around 90 percent of the children served by St. Apollonia are covered by MaineCare, the state’s version of Medicaid, which does not cover the full cost of the dental services.
“It’s pretty close to what it was in the 1970s,” said Dr. Norma Desjardin, founder and CEO of the clinic, referring to the MaineCare reimbursement.
“I knew that there were children not being treated when I opened the clinic, but I didn’t realize the level of disease that the kids have — significant cavities, decay, sometimes in the whole mouth,” Desjardins said.
“What we’re trying to do is make a difference in the lives of the kids and get the disease treated.”
To keep serving the children who are on MaineCare or without insurance, the clinic is aiming to raise at least $50,000 this year with its fourth annual Festival of Trees, Dec, 1-3. The three day event is held at in the Northern Maine Community College Gym and features food, music and raffled-off Christmas trees and gifts.
The clinic started the festival in 2013 when staffers and board members were looking to start a fundraising event without adding to “donor fatigue” in an area where many community groups seek donations each year, said Sherry Chamberland, treasurer of the clinic’s board and manager of NorStar Title Company.
Chamberland said they got the idea for a festival of trees from organizations in Bangor and decided to run with it.
“We were looking for a way to fundraise to bridge the gap between reimbursement for Medicaid and what it actually costs to treat the children,” said Chamberland. “We wanted to do something that would contribute to the community and contribute to the clinic.”
From 25 trees in the first year to 58 this year, the festival has grown considerably, attracting more local businesses each year to donate decorated artificial trees and gifts and more people who come for a family-friendly event, Chamberland said.
The room is set up as a “Christmas tree forest,” with donated Christmas trees and unwrapped gifts that are raffled off, Chamberland said. Raffle tickets are sold in groups of 10 for $5.
There also will be music from the Presque Isle Players and MoonDance Studios, and ornaments for sale from Wintergreen Arts Center’s after-school program, which helped design an oral health poster for the clinic.
