“Everyone Here Has Been Just Phenomenal”

NFDC Staff- Photo by Gail Howarth

NFDC provides free services to veterans

On Friday, November 16th  Newaygo Family Dental Care put on an impressive event for veterans when they offered up a day of checkups, exams, cleaning, x-rays and fillings at a special subsidized rate.
​Free.
That’s right, free.
We stopped by the office mid morning and had a chat with Fremont veteran Jerry Wallace who had high praise for the staff.
“I am really appreciative of this,” said Wallace who served in the 101st Airborne from 1978-1983. “Everyone here has been just phenomenal.”
We spoke to Dr. Ross Nelson, who along with his partner (and father) Dr. Dennis Nelson put this idea into action.

This was a huge undertaking for a first time event. How did it go?
I  thought it went really, really well.  My team met every day this week for lunch and discussed the set up, the flow, the turnover, the follow up, and random scenarios that might occur and we played them out to try and not get tripped up.  I thought that really paid off today. To be honest, I was really nervous since our facebook ad for the even got over 700 shares… I really didn’t want to have to turn away people. Luckily, we had just a nice steady flow of veterans and we were able to do multiple services on many of them which just added to the great feelings we had on the day.  

How did the veterans you served react?
Response from the vets was amazing.  They were patient, appreciative and interested in the care they were receiving.  A lot of them opened up to myself and team members about personal plights and it made for some real organic connections.  

Any surprises?
Honestly, nothing surprised me today.  My team planned really, really well for this.  I keep feeling like a football coach answering this when I say how well the team prepared and took on their own tasks and worked together efficiently.  I am really proud of the professionals at NFDC today.

Any takeaways on the day?
There’s a few tweaks for next year, how we will attack the day differently to serve the Vets better. We have Robin Clinton from Newaygo Therapeutic Massage coming in on Monday to give my team a well-deserved work break with a chair massage, just because I am so proud of them for how hard they worked.  I’m looking forward to seeing these same Vets next year and hopefully a lot of new ones. We will certainly be ready to handle an increased amount of Vets next year.

Any last thoughts?
Beyond my team (who all volunteered their time) I want to thank my father, not that he isn’t a part of the team anyways, but because he doesn’t like the spotlight and he really deserves it.  He made this place what it is and I’m really fortunate to work alongside him. My wife (Tara) and her friend Courtney Sikkenga for the support and coming out to chat with Veterans while they waited for treatment, several Guest Stars including Sue Mansfield who retired from NFDC last year and Gail Howarth who helps our office more than she knows.  Cathy Oglesbee from Patterson Dental donated supplies for today’s event (and is always a positive supporter of our business) as well as Jeremy and Mitch from NG Dental Prosthetics- these guys are going to make some Partial Dentures for a few of the vets at no cost to them. Robin Clinton was also on-site today giving chair massages to the Vets, really awesome of her to join us today.  I’m sure I am missing someone but I sincerely hope not, no way this happens without everyone who came today.

While there is always a lot of talk about helping those who have  served our country NFDC stepped up big time with this initiative and plans are to make it an annual event.
When we made our morning visit the climate was pretty upbeat among the staff who created a welcoming atmosphere to go with the exceptional service provided the vets.
It was definitely a feel good event. The kind  that takes the concept of paying it forward and makes it absolutely resonate through all who were involved.

Well done NFDC, well done indeed.

Jerry Wallace with NFDC Hygienist Cathy Day