JOHNSTON, IOWA (January 7, 2021) — All Iowa schools have the opportunity to receive a new water-bottle filling station through the Rethink Your Drink program, funded by the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation. Selected schools will have an old drinking fountain replaced with a new Elkay water-bottle filling-station.
Priority will be given to schools that have one or fewer water bottle filling stations in their school building and that have a free and reduced-price lunch status of 50% or greater. However, newly eligible in this fifth round of grants are schools that have already received one Rethink Your Drink grant and may now apply for an additional station. Applications for this program opened on January 5 and will close on February 5. To apply, visit www.deltadentalia.com/foundation/grants.
"Rethink Your Drink helps us improve the oral and overall health of Iowans by investing in school-district infrastructure," said Jeff Russell, President and CEO of Delta Dental of Iowa. "As we continue to fight COVID-19, it's more important than ever for students and staff to stay hydrated and as healthy as possible. The benefits of drinking water extend to every part of our body and brain, improving our health with the simple act of filling up our water-bottles."
Water-bottle filling stations make drinking-water more accessible for students and staff, which is especially important during COVID-19 since traditional water-fountains have been shut off to reduce the potential for transmission. Students and staff are able to stay hydrated by filling personal water-bottles with optimally-fluoridated drinking-water throughout the school day.
"More than 50 percent of children and teens in the US are not properly hydrated during the school day, which can impact learning and energy levels," said Melissa Walker, Iowa School Nurse Consultant. "Water-bottle filling-stations help eliminate the need for single-use plastic water-bottles while helping students and staff stay hydrated and healthy. The automatic filling-function reduces the potential transmission of viruses and bacteria, which is incredibly important as we continue our fight against COVID-19 as well as traditional influenza, colds, and other viruses."
This is the fifth round of funding for Rethink Your Drink. Since 2017, the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation has donated more than $1.3 Million to 285 schools throughout Iowa for the Rethink Your Drink program.
The program, "Rethink Your Drink" is funded by Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation and supported by the Iowa Department of Public Health Bureau of Nutrition and Health Promotion, Iowa Public Health Association, Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative, and In Depth Marketing.
About Delta Dental of Iowa
Delta Dental of Iowa, a not-for-profit health and wellness company, provides dental and vision benefits to more than 1.2 million Iowans. Locally-focused and nationally-networked, Delta Dental of Iowa invests in oral health and wellness projects through the Delta Dental of Iowa Foundation and community-giving that focus on access to care, prevention, education, and research. Since 2002, Delta Dental has invested more than $42 million to improve the oral health and overall health of Iowans.
Delta Dental of Iowa is a member of the Delta Dental Plans Association, the leading national network of independent dental-service corporations. The Delta Dental member companies provide dental benefits to more than 80 million Americans in more than 141,000 employee groups throughout the country. For more information, visit the website at www.deltadentalia.com.
