Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race Raises Much-Needed Funds For Local Health Services

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From left to right: Ken Gordon, CEO, Coos County Family Health Services (CCFHS); Guyford Stevers, President, CCFHS Board; William Gessner, MD, CCFHS Medical Director; Julia Hadley, DMD; Jennifer McGrath, Manager, Foundation and Marketing Initiatives, Northeast Delta Dental; Howie Wemyss, General Manager, Mt. Washington Auto Road; and, Lisa McCoy, Events Director, Mt. Washington Auto Road.

Pinkham Notch, NH — Mount Washington has an international reputation for its severe and quickly-changing weather conditions, and it once again held true to its nature for the 59th annual Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race. Held on June 15th, the morning brought high winds to the summit, with wind chills dropping down into the 20s. Safety is always paramount for the event, and the race organizers at the Mt. Washington Auto Road were hopeful that they wouldn’t need to implement their contingency plan to run the race to a point well below the summit. However, Mother Nature intervened just in time to part the clouds and reduce the winds, changing the home of the “world’s worst weather” to one of sunshine and prime race conditions—much to the delight of the 1,016 racers, and the fans that came to support them.

While the weather on Mount Washington is ever changing, one thing that doesn’t waver is the long standing partnership between the Mt. Washington Auto Road and the race’s title sponsor, Northeast Delta Dental. That commitment extends far beyond organizing the historic running race, as it allows the partnership to give back to the local community through a sizeable annual donation to Coos County Family Health Services (CCFHS). For local residents in need of affordable, professional dental care, that financial support is a godsend. Since 2001, when Northeast Delta Dental began its sponsorship of the Mount Washington Road Race, annual donations have totaled over $150,000 to CCFHS. For 2019, CCFHS received $24,777—the largest single donation to date—which will help them to provide critical dental services to families in the North Country.

CCFHS has been helping to provide families with affordable health care since 1974, and has grown to become one of the largest rural Federally Qualified Health Centers in northern New England. Among their notable accomplishments, CCFHS has a long history of sponsoring school-based dental clinics for area children, and recently expanded their scope of dental services by opening Coos County Family Dental in Berlin, a full service dental clinic open to everyone in the community, offering care on a reduced-fee basis for those with modest incomes.

“We simply can’t overstate the importance of the donations that Northeast Delta Dental and the Mt. Washington Auto Road have made to support of our dental clinic. The clinic would not exist in its current form without the generous support of these two community-minded organizations,” says Ken Gordon, Chief Executive Officer of CCFHS. “This remarkable donation provides us with the means to offer dental care to everyone in our community. We thank both organizations for their generous support, and encourage local residents who need dental care to contact our office at 752-2424.”

Northeast Delta Dental and the Mt. Washington Auto Road proudly support the CCFHS mission to provide medical and dental care to local communities, and particularly to its patients without insurance or with limited ability to pay for care. The ongoing partnership between the companies will mean that the 2020 Northeast Delta Dental Mount Washington Road Race is on track to raise much-needed funds for CCFHS, continuing to help provide dental care to families throughout Coos County.

“Our partnerships with the Mt. Washington Auto Road and CCFHS allow us to increase access to dental care for the citizens in the North Country. We are proud to be a part of this joint effort,” said Jennifer McGrath, Manager, Foundation & Marketing Initiatives at Northeast Delta Dental.

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