Volunteering is an opportunity

Kansas City, Mo.鈥?Volunteering is just an opportunity to help someone improve their quality of life if I can, dental student Ashley Knight told the ADA News after receiving a service award from President Bush.

A rising senior at the UMKC School of Dentistry, Ms. Knight recalls serving green beans at a Lawrence, Kan., homeless shelter at age 10 “through my parents’ influence” and coming of age in dental school to the joy of giving, which she expects to complement her private practice, “where, I don’t know.”

For now she’s looking forward to the summer’s second UMKC Students Take Action screening for children aged 1-4 organized under a grant from the ADA Foundation Harris Fund for Children’s Dental Health during her STA presidency, one of her many volunteer activities that came to White House attention. “UMKC gives all of its students opportunity to volunteer, which I have really appreciated.”

That day on the tarmac of the Olathe, Kan., airport with President Bush “was overwhelming, surreal. I saw him walking down the stairs (of Air Force One). He walked toward me, stuck out his hand and said ‘Ashley, I’ve been reading all about your volunteer experience and I’m very impressed.’ I said, ‘Thank you so much, it’s such an honor to meet you, Mr. President.’ We chatted maybe a minute and a half. I gave him a little nudge. He made me feel at ease and was very kind.”

At school she get’s a little ribbing about that, “some people giving me a hard time asking me, when is the next time you’ll be talking to President Bush, but it’s all in good fun.”