A C T L O C A L LY – T H I N K G L O B A L LY 2013 AO TRUDI BIRGER AWARD THE AO TRUDI BIRGER AWARD RECOGNIZES THE INDIVIDUAL(S), GROUP OR CHAPTER, WHICH HAVE PERFORMED EXEMPLARY SERVICE TO THEIR COMMUNITY. THE AWARD WILL BE PRESENTED AT THE AO INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION IN FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA IN DECEMBER 2013. Dr. Nathan Birnbaum Nathan Birnbaum, DDS, CAGS was nominated by the AO Boston Alumni Chapter for his volunteer work that has embraced the spirit of this award. Dr. Birnbaum joined AO as a student at Northwestern University and has taken several leadership positions with the student chapter, the AO International Fraternity, AO US Foundation, and the Boston Alumni chapter. Over the years, he has focused on community involvement, whether as coach of a Little League baseball team, volunteering on synagogue committees, working with public service organizations, or helping with charitable fundraising. Dr. Birnbaum’s initiative and perseverance had a positive impact on raising money for Israel. Recognizing the need to provide dental care to many indigent Russian émigrés, Dr. Birnbaum organized the Dental Aid for Russian Émigrés (DARE) Program, run through the Greater Boston Jewish Family and Children’s Service. The success of the program led to the establishment of the free Dental Evaluations for Soviet Kids (DESK) program, administered by the Pediatric Dentistry Department of the Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. He also organized the Dental Assistance for Survivors of the Holocaust (DASH) program, which provides low cost and sometimes free dentistry to needy Holocaust survivors. Dr. Birnbaum was recently recognized by the Greater Boston Combined Jewish Philanthropies for his work leading CJP’s Health Profession Team since its inception and is now a member of its executive board. Alpha Omega Toronto Alumni Chapter Twenty five years ago, members of the AO Toronto chapter had the desire to provide dental services to individuals in the Jewish community who were financially disadvantaged. AO members approached the Toronto Jewish Child and Family Services (JF&CS) to create a program and to achieve this goal, both organizations provided enough funding for the first patients to be treated by volunteer dentists. The program became known as the AO/JF&CS Dental Volunteer Program. The AO Toronto chapter has managed to keep this program running until the present day. Volunteers from the chapter provide dental services at no cost to both clients of Jewish Family and Child Services as well as patients from the Toronto Bikur Cholim, a volunteer social service agency. Please click here for the full article. The AO Trudi Birger award is named in honor of Trudi Birger, a Holocaust survivor and founder of the Dental Volunteers for Israel (DVI), a free dental clinic in Jerusalem. Founded in 1980, the DVI clinic treats children of all faiths and nationalities, ages 5-18. The legacy of Ms. Birger inspires dentists worldwide to contribute their time to the DVI clinic in Jerusalem as well as embrace the volunteer spirit in their own communities. Ms. Birger was an honorary member of the Alpha Omega International Dental Fraternity. www.ao.org A L P H A O M E G A | A O N O W 3