A Smile as Warm as His Heart

11/03/2022

update

January 6, 2021, I reached out to my favorite FB group and asked if anyone knew how to navigate the VA dental process. My kind-hearted, generous, military veteran neighbor had been trying to get dental implants since 2015, to no avail.
I had no idea when I hit that “post” button, that so many strangers would fall in love with Mr James and care about him as much as my family does. You shared information, personal contacts you asked to donate, you sent cards and letters to Mr James! I remember one comment along the way said something like, “forget the VA, let’s make this happen!”

And then Megan Charowski did just that! Megan and her husband, Tomek, are dentists right here in our area. Megan DMed me and said that her husband does implants and they would love to donate his time and skill to giving Mr James his smile back. From there Megan contacted Oral Arts Dental Lab in Alabama and told them all about Mr James. They too wanted to help and donated the implants and crowns! Bynum Aesthetic Dentistry donated their office and tools and treated us like family with every visit.

This has certainly been a process, but ****today**** was THE DAY!! Today Mr James got a Smile as Warm as his Heart!

I hope you smile as big as we all did today during the big reveal!!!

10/03/2022

update!

********Teaser*******

Tomorrow Mr James gets his new teeth!!!!

Be on the lookout for pics tomorrow of his new smile!! Megan Charowski and I will try to get lots of pics! ❤️

Bynum Aesthetic Dentistry ❤️

22/12/2021

update!

Last Thursday Mr James got his final scans for his new teeth! His crowns will be ordered based on the scans and he’ll have a new smile in just a few more weeks!

Dr Tomek, Dr Megan Charowski, and the whole team at Bynum Aesthetic Dentistry treated Mr James and me like VIPs the whole time! Literally, it is the friendliest, most hospitable office I’ve ever been in- the Chick-Fil-A of dental offices 😄

Wishing you all a very joyful holiday season!

12/11/2021

Update!

Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all who have served our country!!

And now an update on one of our favorite veterans, Mr James!

Last Thursday, Mr James had a check up on his implant progress. Dr Tomek uncovered the implants to verify healing and placed healing abutments (which make the gums look good scalloped so the crowns more like “real teeth not denture like”). They went to scan, but hit a road block because they didn’t have the parts for an older implant from the VA, so they ordered that. In 3 weeks Mr James will be scanned for the final crowns. We are ALMOST there. It is definitely a process, but Mr James almost has A Smile as Warm as His Heart!!💜

An ongoing huge thank you to Dr Megan Charowskiher husband, Dr Tomek, who is donating his time and skills to do Mr James’ implants, Bynum Aesthetic Dentistry for donating their facility and tools, and Oral Arts Dental Lab in Alabama, for donating the materials needed to finalize the impact process! And to all of you for coming together to support and love Mr James!

A special note, Dr Tomek is also a veteran 💜

https://www.instagram.com/p/CWJM3YwvCxK/?utm_medium=copy_link

21/07/2021

update

Are you all ready for an AMAZING update?!...

Dr. Megan Charowski sent me a text on Friday telling me she had an upcoming call with a dental lab and to send up a little prayer. I sent up prayers, and a few minutes later, Megan texted back that the lab is going to donate all the crowns for Mr James’ smile, FOR FREE!!!!!

I am overwhelmed with gratitude to Dr. Megan for sharing Mr. James’ story, to Oral Arts Dental Lab in Alabama for offering to donate the crowns, to Dr Tomek, Megan’s husband, who is donating his time and skills to do the implants, and to all of you for supporting and donating Mr James’ smile journey thus far!

Dr. Tomek will uncover the implants in September/October to check for healing, leave the healing abutments for about another month, and then take impressions for the final crowns.

A Smile as a Warm as His Heart has raised a total of $2,160.05 for Mr James dental implants. The first part of the process cost $1000, which leaves $1,160.05. We will hang onto it until Mr James’ smile is complete (in case there are any final costs, anesthesia, etc)..

And then with the remaining funds, we will make a donation on behalf of A Smile as Warm as His Heart to an organization that helps others in need. I think it would be awesome to donate to an organization that specifically helps veterans or that provides dental work for those in need, but I am completely open to suggestions! Please comment any and all ideas, or click the like/love button on any suggestions in the comments that you feel strongly about!

I am excited to spread the kindness and generosity that has been shown to Mr James, and the kindness and generosity of Mr James to others in need 💜

******

Updated screenshots below of all donations for transparency 💜

06/05/2021

Almost 3 weeks ago Mr James had his implant posts put in!

I saw him that evening and the next day, and he assured me that he felt great, and didn’t even as much as take any OTC pain medicine!He ate soft foods and swished with salt water as instructed.

During his grocery shopping for his soft food diet, he came across some Mickey Mouse ice cream bars that thought our 2 year old would enjoy- And indeed she did!! Photo below of her eating the ice cream bars with Mr James the evening of his procedure- he was a little swollen, but all smiles!!

He’ll need to heal for about 6 months before his crowns can be added. His amazing fan club has raised $1,716.01 towards his ultimate procedure cost of $8000.

Breakdown for transparency:
GoFundMe: $1391.01 (after fees)
Venmo: $325

See screenshots below. I’ve blocked out last names in Venmo, but including it here so you can verify that you were in the count if you chose Venmo over GoFundMe ☺️

You guys, thank you for all you’ve done so far!

And thank you Megan Charowski for coordinating the dental side of this!!

15/04/2021

Ok everyone, it’s happening!

Mr James is having the first part of the dental implant process on Friday! As a recap, I shared a little bit about our thoughtful and generous neighbor, Mr James with an awesome FB group I’m on, and asked if anyone knew how to work through the VA system to help finally get his much needed dental implants. The response was overwhelming! Dr Megan Charowski, from the group connected us with her husband, who is donating his time and skills to place the implants.
We have enough donations to cover this initial procedure and to get him a good partial to wear during the 6 month healing process.
We’ll still need to get the crowns (which is the expensive part!) but we have another awesome member of the group checking to see if she can get them donated, and if necessary, we’ll get the media involved to push the story and get this finalized through GoFundMe! I can’t thank you all enough for your thoughts, suggestions and donations so far! We’ve still got a ways to go, but I am fully confident that Mr James is going to get A Smile as Warm as His Heart!

Mr James continues to bring his multi-weekly goodies! Pictured here is Mr James with our 2-year-old, Lily, on Easter. Also pictured is the sweet Easter card he brought us 💜

31/03/2021

I’m working with Dr Megan and her husband Dr Tomek, to get a full quote outlining the costs associated with the partial, the implant posts, the abutments and the crowns that Mr James needs. I will post that as soon as I get it!

31/03/2021

By now, many of my friends probably feel like they know our neighbor, Mr. James, personally. If you’ve been to our house, you’ve probably drank some orange juice that Mr James has brought us, or seen the Spider Lilies by our front porch that Mr James brought over and planted (they bloomed the day Ella was born, so he thought we might like to have some 💜). Mr. James is beyond just a good neighbor, he has become family!

Mr James has been trying to get dental implants since 2016. As I’ve shared stories of Mr James, many have asked me to create a mechanism to help Mr. James get his smile back.

Full transparency- GoFundMe does not charge platform fee for the organizer to create the fundraiser, but they do charge 2.9% + $.30 for each donation as a processing fee.

For those opposed to such fees, I will also publish a Venmo code in the comments of this post, and ALL donations will go directly to helping Mr. James get A Smile as Big as His Heart 💜

My neighbor Mr. James is a hero. He survived a gunshot wound to the head while serving our… Regina Johnson needs your support for A Smile as Warm as His Heart

31/03/2021

Post from January 6 (sorry out of order!):

*Mr James Dental Implant Update*

Thank you all for showing so much love for Mr James!

The VA called him again yesterday and he has an appointment with a dentist Feb 5. He thinks it’s an evaluation of his gums and a treatment plan, which will have to go back to the VA for approval.

A lovely member of this group has a connection to a dentist and is checking into some possible options for him. This may require a Go Fund Me.

Another member of this group connected me with a Veterans Benefits expert.

-So we are working multiple angles. I will keep you all posted on our progress.

Until then, another sweet example of Mr James’ thoughtfulness that touched my heart deeply:

My youngest daughter was born September 23rd this year. A few days after we got home and settled, Mr James came walking across the street with a handful of vibrant, red Spider Lilies, bulb and all. He said, “These flowers come up every year at the beginning of September and bloom sometime within the month. This month, they bloomed on the day your daughter was born, so I thought you may like to have some.” He had me point out the location for the flowers, and then he dug a hole and planted them for us. 💜 It was extra sweet that they were a type of lily, because my oldest daughter’s name is Lily.

31/03/2021

update!

Monday was Vietnam War Veterans Day. I sent Mr James a text thanking him for his service to our country, but it didn’t seem like enough. I guess no words are really enough for such bravery and sacrifice.

I am beyond determined to ensure that he gets his dental implants! So I’m asking for a bit of help! Someone, in one of the Mr James updates, suggested we reach out to the media to get Mr James’ story out there to make sure we get all the resources needed for his implants. I am about 99% sure the commenter said she works in the media or has connections to the media and could offer guidance on how to make it happen. I have tried to read back through the hundreds of comments to find you, but am coming up short! So dear media expert(s), if you’re out there, will you comment again or DM me?!

Megan Charowski’s dentist husband is donating his time and services, and we have another group member who may still be able to help get some implants donated, but she is going through a family tragedy and is, very understandably, out of office currently. Mr James is scheduled to begin the process April 16th, so in order to ensure no delays, I think the media route is an awesome option!!

A final note- Vietnam War Veterans Day got me thinking- I bet there are women veterans, active military women, and military spouses in this group. If you are comfortable doing so, drop a comment to let us know you’re out there! Again, there are no words big enough to fully say it, but THANK YOU! I’m sure the group would love to show some likes and hearts to thank you as well! ❤️💙🤍

31/03/2021

Post from March 22:

update!

Ok guys, we still have the possibility of having some implants donated, but in talking with Megan Charowski, we think it’s best to get the ball rolling with a GoFundMe for Mr James’ dental work.

Mr James is on the schedule for April 16th to get the process started!

With that said, I am working on setting up the GoFundMe, which I will post on my personal page, and we need a catchy title for Mr James’ campaign.

So I need your help! This is a creative, clever group of woman! What should we name Mr James’ dental work GoFundMe?

Pics of Lily (my 2 year old) and Mr James hanging out this evening- going for a walk and picking flowers from his yard 🥰