3

The PFA Foundation was created by your Officers in 1986 to establish a charitable arm of the Academy to receive donations that would be used for dental programs. At its outset, most of the contributions to the Foundation funds were from the benevolence of its Fellows. The amount was not very great to do wondrous things with, but a few dental scholarships were awarded at that time. The creation of the Foundation was in response to a request from a major benefactor, Dr. Fernando Brenes-Espinach of Costa Rica, a 1984 Elmer Best Award recipient, who had written PFA into his will to receive most of his estate after his death. That estate amounted to over $5 million.

Upon chartering, the PFA Foundation had written its guidelines that its Board of Trustees would be past Presidents of the Academy and serve with no pay while directing the funds in its charge and keeping. The decision had been suggested by Dr. Robert Shira that funds received from its Fellows would be invested to accumulate a larger sum to possibly perform vaster dental projects. So when the Brenes-Espinach bequest arrived, the Foundation decided to invest the entire sum, and use the interest to award funds to dental service projects.

Under the exceptional and able leadership of the Foundation Treasurer George Higue, the principal grew as a certain portion of the interest was put back into the principal. The principal was safely invested wisely to result in about $300,000 a year interest. This amount became the benchmark for dental grant awards and dental scholarships for many years following. Individual Fellowship contributions were also turned into the principal.

Then when the investment market started fluctuating and the high-interest bonds required turning over, the percent interest was considerably less than what the Foundation had come to expect annually. IRS demands of a Foundation that it grant out 15% of the entire amount in charitable contributions and pay a 1% tax on the income.

When the interest rates dropped from the usual 7% and Fellowship contributions had stabilized to an annual figure, the Foundation was in danger of going into the principal to pay the taxes and still give out dental grants of a lesser amount.

For several years, then Foundation President Robert Shira had urged that the Academy commence an endowment plan to build up the principal against such investment shortfalls. But it was not until the last three years that past PFA President C. F. Larry Barrett took up the charge and researched the possibilities. The initial cost of beginning such a project without any guarantee of a return balked many Trustees. But when reality set in, Dr. Barrett was given the green light.

Dr. Barrett was prepared to launch his suggested Endowment Fund Raising Program last Fall after approval by the Foundation Board of Trustees. But the Katrina disaster occurred almost at the same time that the Foundation Annual Meeting was scheduled, and the immediate priorities shifted.

Foundation Trustee James Long led many Trustees in the desire to aid, in some way, those affected by the disaster. However, there were no legally established provisions in the Constitution to act with dispatch, no guidelines, and no direction as to where such funds might go. With tremendous resolve to help out, the best the Trustees were able to enact were (1) (through he Academy) waive the Academy dues for at least a year of those Fellows affected by the disaster; (2) create an Emergency Disaster Relief Fund to collect contributions; and (3) set up a committee to draw up guidelines and the legal clauses to allow the Foundation to act in such cases. This was presented to the Foundation Board at their Interim Meeting in April for approval.

In the meantime, Dr. Barrett’s Endowment Fund Raising Program has again been delayed due to the nation’s outstanding generosity to aid the Katrina victims and the ADA’s own requests for money to help out, not to mention our own Foundation’s Disaster Relief Fund. Competition with the many other fund-raising groups out there seemed to suggest that starting another one with a less dramatic reason would not result in achieving the desired goals for the investment required.

Now that matters with the New Orleans area are stabilizing, and the Foundation need had grown, it has become a necessity to initiate the Foundation’s Endowment Fund Raising Program.

Besides the information supplied in Dental World and on the Web site of the Foundation, most every Fellow will receive a personal letter from Dr. Barrett representing his entire committee composed of both Academy and Foundation Officers.

The Foundation Officers themselves have already contributed in support of this project to underwrite much of the start-up costs necessary to contact you for your help.

Dr. Barrett’s Committee has established several categories of giving and levels for contributions.

The Memorial Tribute Program is established as an opportunity to memorialize a friend, mentor, loved one, or to pay tribute to the service of our great dental professionals that have served us as Dr. Robert Shira, past President of the Foundation, and Dr. Shig Ryan Kishi, the past Executive Director of the Foundation. Large sums were raised shortly after their deaths for the Foundation. But if you wish to memorialize any individual, you may designate who you wish to honor.

Endowment Fund Raising Program continued...

The Grants and Scholarship Program gifts will support the ongoing work of the Foundation and relieve, or partly relieve, the costs for these projects from around the world from complete Foundation support. You can co-sponsor a dental scholarship with a donation as little as $1000, or more, to have your name attached to the presentation of this award. Think of immortalizing yourself or family/friends by being a part of funding an international dental program serving the needy in an area of the world you may never visit. You will be personally reaching out to expand your sphere of influence to contribute in areas you may never have heard about. The Foundation is the vehicle to do that for you. The Foundation serves the globe’s dental needs, a project at a time. You have the funds to be a part of that project by plugging them into the Foundation’s Grants Program.

The Legacy Program is probably the easiest to be a part of. You just include the Foundation in your will (as Dr. Brenes-Espinach did), add the Foundation as a benefactor to your life insurance, or even take out a life insurance policy you pay for making the Foundation the benefactor. In this way, all the good work you have done as a professional will continue on after you have gone on to your reward. That is earthly immortality. Many Fellows already participate in this category as a means to continue their valued service to humanity after their skills have diminished, retirement, or death.

But donations can include stocks, bonds, or real property (title cleared, of course).

The Committee has established levels of contributions to be recognized in Dental World, on our Web site, and with an office certificate. Anyone (even non-Fellows) contributing $1000 or more will be recognized with a Dr. Robert Shira Fellowship. Currently, there are nine Officers that have earned this Fellowship. Anyone contributing $100 or more will also be listed on all our sites. Anyone can start out with a small donation and accumulate that yearly to a larger one, or a larger amount can be pledged and the pledge can be paid off in installments spread over three to five years.

Suggested contribution levels for our Fellows are $100 per year for a Fellow, $200 a year for Section Chairs, and $500 annually for PFA Officers and Trustees. Those eventually accumulating a total donation of $1000 or more will qualify as a Dr. Robert Shira Fellow.

If you want to get ahead of the letter being sent out, you can mail your contribution to the Foundation Treasurer William Kort at 6 Brighton Lane, Oak Brook, IL 60523; the check can be made out to the Foundation of the Pierre Fauchard Academy.

If you wish more information on the Endowment Fund Raising Program or wish to become a part of it, please call the Foundation Executive Director Fred Halik at 585/387-9519 or e-mail him at: FPFA@Rochester.rr.com.

Robert Shira Fellows

Other Contributors

Dr. Carl Lundgren, past Academy President, past Foundation President

Dr. James Brophy, PFA International Editor

Dr. William Kort, past Academy President, current Foundation Treasurer

Dr. Fred Halik, past Academy President, current Foundation Executive Director

Dr. C. F. Larry Barrett, past Academy President, current Foundation Vice President

Dr. James Long, past Academy President, current Foundation Trustee

Dr. Nicholas D. Saccone, past Academy President, current Foundation Trustee

Dr. Kevin Roach, past Academy President, current Foundation Trustee

The Canadian PFA Section

Dr. M. David Campbell, past Academy President, current Foundation President

Dr. Gary Lowder, past Academy President, current Foundation Grants Chairman

Dr. Michael Perpich, past Academy President, current Foundation Trustee

The Monroe County Dental Society

CANADA

Laval University of Quebec City dental school senior Razvan Pitic wrote Trustee Barry Dolman to thank PFA for presenting to him the 2005-2006 Achievement Award. “It is a great honor to accept this award. Thank you for your support. For me it is a great pleasure to represent the best profession ever. I am very grateful to see that my efforts made during the past four years at Laval University were noticed by the Pierre Fauchard Academy. As my DMD program comes slowly to an end, you can be sure that in the future I will continue representing our profession by the state of the art and with great passion.”

FRANCE

Chair Marie-Laure Boy-Lefevre, Dean of the Paris 7 School of Dentistry, held a ceremony at the Paris 7 School to present the Foundation Scholarships to dental students Romain Depape of Paris 7 Dental University by Dean Boy-Lefevre, and to Vincent Berthelot of the Brest Dental School by Dean Alain Zerilli. International Trustee for Europe Hubert Ouvrard was in attendance at the ceremony.

(L-R, Brest recipient Vincent Berthelot, Chair Marie-Laure Boy-Lefevre, and Paris 7 recipient Romain Depape

The Foundation-sponsored mobile dental clinic has had another banner year in servicing the dentally underserved poor of the Paris region. In visiting four permanent sites, their 2005 annual report states that they had 1911 appointments for 950 patients, 750 of which were new. Such categories as extractions were up 22.5%, root canals were up 9%, and periodontal treatment was up 6.5%. The population age average ranged between 25 and 39 with 40 to 65-year-olds up 30%, and 2% were infants; 14% of those seeking treatment lived permanently in the area, and the rest were itinerant.

INDIA

Secretary/Treasurer Dr. T. Samraj reports hosting their annual PFA Awards and Induction Ceremony last December to present the PFA Scholarship Award to dental student Amit Chhabria of the Government Dental College at Indore. The Award was presented by the Chief Guest Dr. Bhagwant Singh, President of the Indian Dental Association.

Chief Guest Dr. Bhagwant Singh also presented the PFA senior Student Award to dental student S. Vimi of the A. B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences in Mangalore.

Indian Dental Association President Dr. Bhagwant Singh presents the Scholarship Award to Amit Chhabria. Indian Chairman S. G. Damle is in the background

President Bhagwant Singh presents the Senior Student Award to S. Vimi

UNITED STATES

Illinois

Chair Chris Baboulas hosted their annual Luncheon last February and recognized the Foundation scholarship recipients Siddhi Doshi from the University of Illinois, introduced by Dean Bruce Graham (a PFA Fellow), and Ava Lauren Hood from Southern Illinois University, introduced by her Dean.

Scholarship recipient Ava Lauren Hood and Chair Chris Baboulas

Scholarship recipient Siddhi Doshi and Chair Chris Baboulas

Louisiana

Chair Guy A. Ribando reported that the LSU dental school has set up a temporary campus in Baton Rouge. Their Dean Eric Hovland expects that the dental school will be back in operation in New Orleans in Septemeber of this year or by January 2007 at the latest. Meanwhile, the Foundation Scholarship Award was presented to senior dental student David Balhoff at the Baton Rouge campus.

Dean Eric Hovland awards the PFA Scholarship to senior David Balhoff

1 May 2006

PFA Management Team Meeting,
Anaheim, California

1–4 June

OSAP Symposium (Organization for Safety and Asepsis Procedures) Tucson, Arizona

24–26 August

Canadian Dental Association Annual meeting St. John’s, Newfoundland

25 August

Canadian PFA Luncheon

18–25 September

94th FDI Congress, Shenzhen, China

18 September

PFA Region 9 Meeting
TBA Shenzhen, China

16–20 October

147th ADA Annual Session, Las Vegas, Nevada

16–19 October

Monday-Friday:
PFA Academy Board Meetings
PFA Foundation Board Meetings

17-18 October

PFA Annual Board Meetings
Academy and Foundation
Four Seasons Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

17 October, 11:30 am–2 pm PFA Awards Luncheon, Ballroom 3

17 October, 6:30–8 pm PFA President’s Reception, Ballroom 4

18 October, 6:30–10:30 pm PFA Dinner Party, Mesquite Room 1

CANADA

International Trustee for Canada Barry Dolman was honored by the Canadian Dental Association with its highest award, Honorary Membership, in a special ceremony at CDA President Jack Cottrell’s Installation Dinner at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa last April. This award is considered Canada’s highest award in dentistry.

Trustee for Canada Barry Dolman reports that the Canadian Dental Association will hold its annual Meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland, 24-26 August 2006. The Canadian PFA generally holds its annual Awards Ceremonies in conjunction with this event. Right now, they have scheduled a PFA Luncheon on Friday, 25 August. If anyone is planning to attend, please contact the CDA Convention Coordinator Una Folkson Singh at 1815 Alta Vista Drive in Ottawa, Ontario, K1G3Y6. The phone number is 613/523-1770, extension 2334, or 1-800/267-6354 or fax 613/523-7736.

The 2007 ODA Annual Meeting will be in Toronto 26-28 April 2007.

INDIA

Indian Section Secretary/Treasurer T. Samraj reports hosting their annual Section Awards Ceremony last December. In attendance were Chief Guest Dr. Bhagwant Singh, President of the Indian Dental Association, India Chairman S. G. Damle, International Honorary Fellow Dr. Major General Kartar Singh, Section Secretary/Treasurer T. Samraj, Section Editor Dr. V. P. Jalili, the new inductees, and the 2005 India Prize winners. New Fellow Dr. Bhuma Nikil Vashi offered the opening prayer. Then President Bhagwant presented the Foundation Scholarship Award, the Senior Student Award, and the awards to the 2005 India Section Prize Winners. Thirteen new Fellows were inducted into the Academy.

POLAND

Chairman Professor Eugeniusz Spiechowicz noted that the Polish Stomatological Association publishes two scientific magazines to their members and organizes lecture series for continuing education. The Association of Polish Dentists has held conferences and hosted several foreign lecturers for their workshops. The Presidents of both organizations are PFA Fellows. Dr. Professor Marek Zietek is President of the Polish Stomatological Association and Dr. Zbigniew Klimek is President of the Association of Polish Dentists.

The Polish Stomatological Association has organized some 28 educational meetings in Bialstok over the last two years. The Association of Polish Dentists has held more than 30 such educational events. Many of these lectures and papers are printed in their scientific journals. Their Section expects to induct five new Fellows into membership this year.

Their Section Officers are Chairman Professor Eugeniusz Spiechowicz, Vice Chair Professor Elzbieta Mierzwinska-Nastalska, Secretary Dr. Zbigniew Klimek, and Treasurer Zdzislaw Malenczyk. Professor Stokowska from Bialystok was the newly inducted Fellow for 2005.