Spread holiday cheer to local charities

Like their counterparts everywhere, local charities need support all year, not just during the holidays. But in this season of giving, many people are seeking ways to help people in need in the community. Here are some opportunities.

FUTURE SMILES

889-3763 or FutureSmiles@ CenturyLink.net

Terri Chandler, trained as a dental hygienist and involved in dentistry for 30 years, founded Future Smiles in 2009 to increase access to dental health care for underserved sections of the community. It is a small group of dental hygienists who have public-health endorsements, which enable them to go into schools and provide dental hygiene care without being under the supervision of a dentist.

They're working with four schools, with a permanent site in the Communities in Schools clinic at Cunningham Elementary School. They also have three sets of portable equipment. One is at Hollingsworth Elementary School and one at Clark High School, where the group's coordinator is based. At those three sites, they provide dental cleanings, sealants, fluoride varnish, education and screenings. Another portable set is at Herron Elementary School in North Las Vegas and soon will be moved to Whitney Elementary School; everything except cleanings is done at that site.

"It's the coolest thing for hygienists to be able to help these kids," she said.

Future Smiles will accept "anything and everything," Chandler said, from donations to supplies.

"The more portable equipment we get, the more we can go out to other schools," she noted.

They'd also like a vehicle for the hygienists to use and are willing to identify the donor on it.

"That would rock my Christmas," Chandler said.

LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICES OF NEVADA

73 Spectrum Blvd.; 639-1730 or LSSNV.org

The mission of Lutheran Social Services of Nevada is to "express the love of Christ by serving and caring for people in need," said Tom Maatta, development and marketing director. Since it was incorporated in 1997, it has served 150,000 local families, he said.

The agency's foundational ministry is its emergency food pantry, which is open to all. Two forms of ID are needed for everyone in the family (to ensure that someone doesn't claim more family members than he or she has). Most people can come in once every 60 days and get 7 pounds of food for every member of the family, plus whatever perishables are available at the time. Seniors can come in every 30 days and get 14 pounds per member, plus perishables.

The food pantry is unique in the area, he said, in that it's in a supermarket format. Clients get shopping carts and can browse the aisles, choosing what their families will eat, instead of being given a bag or box holding a variety of items.

"We want to offer the same dignity to our clients who come through" as the usual shopper feels, Maatta said. Plus, "we like it because studies have shown that having a model like this cuts down on waste up to 40 percent."

He uses canned pie filling as an example. Because many clients travel on buses, he said, they tend to leave pie filling at bus stops rather than deal with the weight of something they won't use.

Lutheran Social Services is looking for donations of nonperishable foods, especially those "you would expect to find on a holiday dinner table," such as green beans and mushroom soup, he said. They also need $15 gift cards from Walmart or Target, to be given to seniors.

"If we had 75 come in at the $15 level, we'd be happy campers," Maatta said.

HEAVEN CAN WAIT ANIMAL SOCIETY

546 N. Eastern Ave.; 227-5555 or HCWS.org

Harold Vosko, Heaven Can Wait's founder/president, said he retired at 40; six years later he started going to local shelters and realized, "Whoa, there's a big problem here" in terms of pet overpopulation. More than 30,000 animals are euthanized in the valley every year, and about 200 are turned into shelters every day, he noted.

"What happens is you think you can adopt your way out," Vosko said. "You think you're doing something. In reality, you're only saving that dog," while others perish.

"We're about the cure," he said. They're in the second year of a five-year plan, the main focus of which, he said, "is obviously having less animals being born."

Nationally, 90 percent of money goes to rescue and only 10 percent to spay and neuter the animals to try to prevent the births of some of the 5 million who die in shelters each year, he said.

Once a month, Heaven Can Wait's all-volunteer cat clinic spays and neuters free-roaming cats, last month treating 395 in one day. Their clinic provides low-cost services four days a week; volunteers frequently go door to door to encourage participation. They've spayed and neutered 13,000 animals so far this year, and by the end of the year will reach 70,000 since the organization was founded.

Vosko said Heaven Can Wait needs cat food -- "We get plenty of dog food" -- cat litter and monetary donations.

RAPE CRISIS CENTER

College of Southern Nevada, 6375 W. Charleston Blvd., Building B, Room 149; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays; 24-hour hotline: 366-1640, or contact TheRapeCrisisCenter.org

Founded in 1974, "basically at a kitchen table" by Florence McClure and Sandra Petta, the Rape Crisis Center's original mission was to provide services to victims of sexual assault. That remains the same, but preventive education has been added, Executive Director Hannah Brook said. The organization recently opened the NWP Signs of Hope Counseling Center with a $350,000 grant from Nevada Woman's Philanthropy.

Brook said most clients find the agency through its website while searching for counseling or direction on what to do if they've just been assaulted. The center sees about 700 clients face to face each year; since the counseling center opened in January they've seen more than 200. The hotline gets 7,000 to 7,500 calls a year, she said.

More than 90 percent are from women, but often boyfriends, husbands, fathers or other males in the victims' lives reach out "because they just don't know what to do." The center also gets calls from members of the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community, she added.

The center needs items for hygiene kits for use after the victim's physical examination -- shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, body soap, shaving cream and razors.

"We do have a tendency to get a lot of homeless people," Brook said. "We try to give them some extra supplies."

They're also looking for funding for office space, with a goal of expanding counseling services.

S.A.F.E. HOUSE

Office at 921 American Pacific Drive, Henderson; 24-hour hotline: 564-3227, or contact SafeHouseNV.org

Safe House, founded in 1994 -- and not to be confused with the older Safe Nest -- operates a 54-bed shelter for women and children at an undisclosed location, said Samantha Jayme, outreach and education coordinator. Jayme said it's the only local shelter that accepts boys as old as 19.

"We really want to focus on keeping the family together and healing them all, rather than separating them," she said.

While the women and children are in shelter, all services, including meals, clothing, school supplies and counseling, are free. There's a child advocate, free legal advocacy for women, support groups and skill-building groups. The shelter is set up suite-style, so families have some privacy. As long as they adhere to their case plan and don't disclose the center's location, they can stay as long as necessary, and even return if needed.

"Our main priority is shelter," Jayme said. "Some people may need a night, some might need a year or two."

Safe House needs warm socks, jackets and blankets. Some are needed for families transitioning out of shelter, who may be able to afford rent but not heat, she said.

While they tend to get a lot of toys for the kids, Jayme said, they need things for the mothers, such as bath sets, makeup and books.

"They like the girly things, things that remind them they can still be feminine," she said.

VARIETY EARLY LEARNING CENTER

990 D St.; 647-4907 or VarietyEarlyLearningCenter.org

Variety Early Learning Center was established in 1956 to provide affordable child care to low-income families, said Ruby Collins, director. They're licensed for 157 children and usually serve 120 to 130, from age 2 weeks to 5 years, she added.

Services include substance abuse education, "teaching children to make healthy choices," Collins noted. They also participate in the High Scope assessment program, which monitors children to define their academic studies.

Collins said Variety needs disposable diapers, wipes and crib sheets for babies, and art supplies such as paper, paint and glue. They also need gift cards for families and toys for the children.

On a larger scale, they need a copier and a scanner, computers for the children and money for scholarships.

Also, she said, they'd like to have "a nice new building or someone to help us build a new school," since the current one is more than 50 years old.

Contact reporter Heidi Knapp Rinella at hrinella@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0474.