A Penn Township dental office is joining ranks with similar practices in multiple states this week to provide free care to military veterans and service members.

It’s the first year for the Pearl Dentistry office to participate in Freedom Day USA, a program founded in 2013 by a West Virginia dentist.

Free dental services will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday for veterans, active duty military members and their immediate families at the Penn Township location, which has a Jeannette street address: 1075 Harrison City Export Road No. 3.

“Freedom Day is about more than dentistry — it’s about gratitude,” said Dr. Julie Yu. a dentist at the Penn Township practice. “We are proud to open our doors to the veterans and military families of this community and give back in a way that truly matters.”

Office manager Chrissy Forish said the Pearl staff will devote all its efforts to military and veteran patients on Friday, providing dental cleanings and exams and offering more involved procedures as needed.

“Our whole schedule is going to be based off of them,” she said. As of Monday, four patients had signed up for appointments on Friday.

Pearl Dentistry has four other offices, including a New Kensington location.

“We’re starting with our Jeannette location this year,” Forish said of the free services. “We’re going to be seeing how the turnout is and going from there.”

According to the Freedom Day USA website, the event was founded by Dr. Robert “Bob” Martino, a dentist who hails from the area of Clarksburg, W.Va., and operates seven dental practices in that state.

Since 2013, the annual event has provided more than $15 million worth of free services to more than 50,000 military members and their families. In some locations, including in West Virginia, dentists have coordinated with local businesses providing various other offers for veterans.

This year, with about 250 locations participating, the program is expected to serve as many as 10,000 additional veterans, according to Wendy Boyce, national director for Freedom Day USA.

The program took a year off in 2020, following the arrival of the covid-19 pandemic.

Since then, Boyce said, “We have been in a growth pattern. We are coming back, hoping to be bigger and better each year.

“We will have it again next year, in the second week of October.”

For more information about the local event on Friday, visit dentistpenntownship.com or call 724-604-4947.

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