The Delta Dental Foundation awarded Woodbury and Onaway Elementary Schools new bottle-filling water fountains as part of its $200,000 Rethink Your Drink:Water’s Cool at School campaign, which encourages children and adults to drink water, rather than sugar-sweetened beverages. The Delta Dental Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Michigan-based Delta Dental, a dental plan administrator.
Both schools applied for a grant from the foundation earlier this year. The fountains will be installed this winter and the foundation also will provide each student and staff member with a refillable water bottle. Onaway and Woodbury are among 54 Ohio schools to receive new water fountains or bottle-filling stations.
“I think this reinforces the importance of drinking lots of water and the healthy benefits associated with consuming more of it,” says Woodbury Principal H. Danny Young. The Woodbury fountain will be installed near the main office.
At Onaway, the water fountain will be installed outside the cafeteria. “I’m excited that this came from a parent willing to lend support in grant writing and I’m looking forward to more opportunities like this,” says Onaway principal Eric Forman. “This will really help support our push for kids to embrace healthy lifestyles.”
Teri Battaglieri, Delta Dental Foundation director, says that water is critical to maintaining good oral health. “When children choose water over sugar-sweetened beverages, they can reduce incidents of tooth decay, the most common chronic childhood illness in the U.S.”