Cape & Islands News

Cape Cod Community College announces $1.25 M challenge gift for dental hygiene program

Single largest gift in college's history will benefit students and the community

The image above was done by Austin Architects, LLC of Cambridge, MA and shows the teaching/treatment stations that will be created on the lower level of the South Building, the location of the current clinic. Courtesy Cape Cod Community College.

At a press conference Wednesday, Cape Cod Community College's President Kathleen Schatzberg announced that Mrs. Maureen Wilkins, a local philanthropist and a long-time supporter of the college, pledged a gift of $1.25 million to be used to renovate the school's dental hygiene clinic and classrooms. The gift, the single largest in the college's history, will transform the current Dental Hygiene Program.

The $1.25 million gift will fund half of a $2.5 million renovation project. Students in the Dental Hygiene Program currently train in the school's clinic which was created in 1975. Changes and improvements in dental care procedures have made clinic renovations imperative.

President Schatzberg also announced that Mrs. Wilkins offered the gift as a challenge to others in the community. "The challenge match serves as an appeal to community leaders to help us reach the $2.5 million goal,” said Liz Lewis, chair of the CCCC Educational Foundation Board of Directors. 

The first to respond to the challenge was Dorothy Savarese, the President and CEO of Cape Cod Five Savings Bank, who announced a gift of $250,000.  The gift gives the bank exclusive naming rights to the Dental Hygiene Program's Children's Community Outreach. Through the outreach, second-year students travel to area preschools and childcare programs and provide tooth-care education, cleanings and screenings.

Cape Cod Community College's Dental Hygiene Program is fully-accredited by the American Dental Association and is the only such program in a 50-mile radius. Through the program, students, both recent high school graduates and older individuals returning to school, receive valuable hands-on experience. The program benefits the community as well, providing an average of 1,800 appointments a year to both uninsured and under-insured local residents.

Through her generous gift, Mrs. Wilkins looks to rally the support of the Cape Cod dental community.  She will serve as honorary co-chair of the renovation campaign along with Dr. Robert Faiella, an Osterville dentist and President-Elect of the American Dental Association and Dr. Neil Ringler, a West Barnstable dentist and long-time supporter of the college.

President Schatzberg pointed out that the college and many of its students have benefited from the generosity of Mrs. Wilkins and her late husband Frank for over a decade.  "Frank and Maureen’s gifts have enabled many to have a chance at life, a career, a fresh start, and an education. Ten annual scholarships awarded to CCCC students who are single parents bear their name, as does our college library.  They have had an enormous impact on the lives of our students, our college and our community and we are so deeply grateful to Maureen for her continued generosity," said President Schatzberg.

To make a donation to the campaign or for more information, contact Heather Kelsey at 508-364-2002 or hkelsey@capecod.edu.