By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
CHOCOWINITY — A dentist is helping people brighten their smiles and do something good for Haitian earthquake victims.
Through the end of February, Dr. Angie Rhodes will donate 100 percent of the proceeds from sales of tooth-whitening kits to Haiti relief.
For $99 Rhodes, a Chocowinity dentist, and her staff will outfit people with the kits, which include custom-molded bleaching trays designed to slip over the user’s teeth.
All of the money derived from the sales will be contributed to the American Red Cross, Rhodes said.
“That way people are getting something that they want, and they’re also giving something to the people of Haiti,” she commented.
The relief effort carries its own original phrase, “Look good, feel good, do good.”
Further information may be obtained by calling Rhodes’ office at 974-2300.
Rhodes said the inspiration for the initiative came when her 6-year-old daughter, Kennedy, seeing images of earthquake victims on television, told her, “Mom, we really need to send some money.”
“Sometimes it takes a young mind to really get the ball rolling,” said Rhodes.
Rhodes is no stranger to beneficent outreach.
A University of North Carolina graduate, she took advantage of school-sponsored programs that allowed her to serve at an orphanage in Mexico and a public-health clinic in Russia.
Though the charity-tied bleaching-tray idea originated with the Rhodes family, the doctor’s staff has pitched in to help make the concept a reality.
“I think it’s awesome,” said Vicki Swinson, dental assistant. “Dr. Rhodes is very generous and giving anyway.”
People interested in the drive need not be Rhodes’ regular patients, but they do need to make appointments, Swinson noted.
The office, located at 200 Patrick Lane, is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Mondays through Wednesdays and 7 a.m. until 4 p.m. Thursdays.
Jerry Person of Currituck was among the first people to answer Rhodes’ call for Haiti aid.
In the area attending to house-sitting duties for his daughter, Person had wanted to have his teeth whitened anyway when he saw a chance to do something bigger.
“It makes me feel that I’m useful in helping somebody that really needs some help,” he said.
He intended to make a direct donation to a charity, but he was pleased when he learned that his charitable ambitions dovetailed with his dental procedure.
“I felt like I needed to do something,” Person related.