Jewish Tooth Fairy Fund to aid survivors of terror

ATZUM has launched the Jewish Tooth Fairy Fund, an initiative focused on providing dental services to Israeli survivors of terror attacks and their families who cannot afford the treatments and have no access to dental insurance.

In addition to funding the dental care -- including routine dental treatments and endodontic, periodontic, and prosthodontic services -- of 10 to 15 survivors of terror per year, the initiative also hopes to identify and recruit Israeli dentists and dental suppliers who would offer their services at a reduced fee to survivors of terror and their families, ATZUM announced.

"Due to the severity of their injuries, survivors of terror frequently suffer from acute dental issues that demand immediate and extensive treatment," said Rabbi Levi Lauer, founding executive director of ATZUM. "With the launch of this unique initiative, ATZUM will be able to provide these individuals with financial and practical assistance to obtain any necessary dental care services."

The Jewish Tooth Fairy Fund is the brainchild of Rachel Rudman, Dara Freedman-Weiss, and Dena Rapoport, graduate students who spent last year studying and volunteering in Israel. Studying this year in New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC, respectively, the three have begun fundraising for the project with the goal of collecting $50,000 by the end of 2012. ATZUM seeks additional donors to augment their efforts.

ATZUM was established in 2002 to remedy injustices in Israel.