Dozens of low-income Greene County residents received free dental care and/or new eyeglasses Saturday, along with free food and clothing, during special clinics at the Greene County Health Department.
The clinics were made possible by funding from the Blanche W. Grady Community Service Award Endowment, a fund within the Laughlin Health Care Foundation, and by free services donated by the Greene County Health Department, local dental and eye-care professionals, and volunteers from Knoxville-based Remote Area Medical (RAM).
Betty Weemes, executive director of the Laughlin Health Care Foundation, said past winners of the Grady Community Service Award, which is presented annually, donated a portion of their prize money to help fund the free clinics.
The Blanche W. Grady Community Service Awards, are funded through an endowment provided by Scott M. Niswonger, the Greeneville business leader and philanthropist, and his mother, Sharon Niswonger.
On Saturday, Blanche Grady, the woman for whom the community service award is named, was present, along with Mrs. Niswonger and Scott Niswonger's grandson, Tyler Gentry.
Betty Carter Justis, executive director of the Laughlin Health Care Foundation, presented an $1,800 check to Stan Brock, the founder of Remote Area Medical (RAM).
Grady later said of Saturday’s event, “It just lifted my heart and made me feel so proud of our community.”
Mrs. Niswonger commented later, “It was wonderful. My compliments to (Greene County Health Department Nursing Supervisor) Jackie Neas and her staff. It (the free clinic event) was so well organized.”
Scores Of People Helped
Betty Weems, executive director of the Laughlin Health Care Foundation, said that during Saturday’s event 81 patients received free pairs of glasses while 82 patients received free dental care.
The dental care, she said, included 65 tooth extractions, 23 fillings, 32 cleanings and 23 dental exams.
The cost of the dental and visual services provided, she said, was conservatively estimated at $18,545.
Weemes said “100 percent of the local eye-care community” participated in helping to provide the free eyeglasses that were distributed on Saturday, while six local dentists took part.
She said that Dr. Mike Rogers headed the dental volunteers on Saturday. “We are so grateful for all the professional and community volunteers, for the businesses and not-for-profits, and for the others who provided support for this very meaningful program,” Weemes said.
“When we work together, much good can be accomplished.”
RAM Described
An all-volunteer group that conducts similar free-health care clinics in Third World countries and areas of the United States with high percentages of unemployed and uninsured adults, RAM was founded by Stan Brock, once co-host of the Wild Kingdom television show.
On Saturday, Brock and several RAM volunteers brought RAM's mobile eyeglass-production laboratory to Greeneville along with eight lightweight dental chairs and associated dental equipment.
Frank Adkins, a RAM volunteer from Chattanooga who supervises the mobile eyeglass-production laboratory, said it was capable of finishing the lens for up to 200 pairs of glasses in a day.
He explained that in Greeneville's case, local vision-care providers had conducted the examinations of the patients at their offices in advance and had sent eyeglass prescriptions to Chattanooga prior to Saturday.
That, Adkins said, enabled RAM volunteers to partially complete the lenses for the Greeneville patients prior to Saturday.
Adkins said that Scott Niswonger donated $25,000 toward the purchase of some of the equipment housed in the eyeglass production trailer.
On Saturday, Adkins said, RAM volunteer opticians finished and cut the lens to the precise sizes needed to fit frames selected by patients.
Adkins said frames are donated to RAM by frame-manufacturing firms. But RAM must purchase lens "blanks" needed for making eyeglass lenses.
Weemes, of the Laughlin Health Care Foundation, said Dr. William J. Smead, M.D., a Greeneville ophthalmologist who helped coordinate the volunteer services of local vision-care professionals in the Saturday vision clinics, said local vision-care professionals had donated what amounted to $400 to $600 of their time to complete free eye examinations for the disadvantaged patients who received glasses on Saturday.
"Everyone (in the Greeneville vision-care community) works together to make this possible," Dr. Smead said.
He also praised the efforts of Shelly Shaw, a Greeneville optometrist, in coordinating the participation of local vision-care professionals in Saturday's clinics.
Patient Reactions
Dolores McKinney, a clerical employee of the Greene County Health Department who volunteered her services Saturday, related during a conversation with a Greeneville Sun reporter how much the free eyeglasses and dental care meant to many disadvantaged patients who were served on Saturday.
McKinney said one elderly patient who had been scheduled to receive eyeglasses on Saturday morning had begun walking to the Health Department from her home in the Rheatown community after her car broke down.
"She was about 70 years old and, fortunately, someone picked her up and gave her a ride here," McKinney said.
Other volunteers who took part in Saturday's clinics said McKinney volunteered to drive the elderly patient home after she received her new glasses.
Another patient, who was described as a woman about 50 years of age who had had vision problems for years but had been unable to afford the care she needed, received her first pair of glasses on Saturday.
"She positively danced out the door after she got her glasses," McKinney said. Not to be outdone by their vision-care counterparts, five local dentists, an oral surgeon and members of their staffs provided free dental care, including fillings, tooth extractions and teeth cleaning.
Among the participating dental professionals was Dr. Craig Shepherd, with whom a Sun reporter spoke as he treated a patient on Saturday afternoon.
Shepherd was being assisted by Linda Rogers, a RAM volunteer from White Pine. Shepherd said he and other local dental-care professionals were happy to take part in the free clinics. Rogers said she helped arrange many dental-care clinics for RAM. Weemes said 64 patients had been scheduled to receive dental care on Saturday.
She said that, in addition to the free dental and visual care that qualifying patients received, many also received approximately $100 worth of food from the Second Harvest Food Bank. Some also received free clothing, she said.
Participating Professionals
The Laughlin Healthcare Foundation this morning said the following opthalmogists or optometrists participated in the clinic: Drs. Dale Brown Jr., Thomas L. Brown, John Clement, Luke L. Ellenburg, Brad Emde, Dale Grant, Barton Grimes, Robert Helm, Howard Kelley, Nancy Norton, Shelley F. Shaw, William J. Smead, Laura L. Urban, Allen Yandell, Pete Vestal and Marietta Vestal.
The Foundation said the following dentists participated in the clinic: Drs. Andrew Armbrister, Jeff Clark, David Dykes, Randall Ford, Michael J. Rogers and Randall Ford, as well as various members of their staffs.
