Special Olympics Connecticut Receives Grant from Delta Dental

Special Olympics Connecticut was awarded a $10,000 S.M.I.L.E. grant through the Delta Dental of New Jersey and Connecticut Foundation in support of its Healthy Athletes’ Special Smiles program.

The grant is supporting the organization’s 2022/2023 Special Smiles program, a dental screening, education, and referral program with a mission to increase access to dental care for Special Olympics athletes. Dental screenings increase awareness of oral health, not only for the athletes, but also their parents and caregivers. Athletes also receive hygiene education to improve their brushing and flossing effectiveness and nutrition education to understand how their diet affects their total health.

Special Smiles screenings were offered to athletes participating in Special Olympics Connecticut’s 2022 Summer Games at Fairfield University earlier this month and will be provided at our 2022 Holiday Sports Classic at Quinnipiac University.

Special Olympics Connecticut provides year-round sports training and competitions for more than 10,000 athletes of all ages with intellectual disabilities and Unified Sports® partners - their teammates without disabilities. Through the joy of sport, the Special Olympics movement transforms lives and communities throughout the state and in 170 countries around the world by promoting good health and fitness and inspiring inclusion and respect for people of all abilities, on and off the playing field. (www.soct.org)

Partner Sponsors: Bozzuto's Inc., Enterprise, ESPN, Eversource Energy, The Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, The Hometown Foundation, Law Enforcement Torch Run, NBC Connecticut and Telemundo Connecticut, Webster Bank, Raytheon Technologies and WWE.

Year-Round Suppliers: Adams Hometown Markets/IGA Hometown Supermarkets, Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast, Marcus Communications, N&D Sports, State of Connecticut Judicial Branch Community Service and WORX.