Pacific Dental Services, The Smile Generation & charity: water Honored for Doing Well by Doing Good by Cause Marketing Forum

100 Wells for Ethiopia Receives Cause Marketing Halo Award as a Top 2013 Campaign

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Jun 10, 2014, 10:00 ET

CHICAGO, June 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Pacific Dental Services (PDS®), The Smile Generation & charity: water were honored with a GOLD Cause Marketing Halo Award in the Best Message - Focused Category at the 12^th Annual Cause Marketing Forum Conference on May 29 in Chicago. A total of 18 awards were given out to programs judged to be the best at doing well by doing good in 2013.

PDS and The Smile Generation kicked off the "100 Wells for Ethiopia" marketing campaign with the intent of raising $1 million to fund 100 wells for the people in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. One hundred percent of the generous donations given to the 100 Wells for Ethiopia campaign went directly to charitable partner charity: water to build sustainable, community-owned water projects.

At the end of the campaign, PDS and The Smile Generation team members raised more than $1.3 million for charity: water, funding 131 wells and providing clean, safe drinking water to nearly 33,000 people in Tigray, Ethiopia.

"We are so honored to win the Cause Marketing Halo Award," said PDS We Serve Manager Kyle Guerin. "There is such an incredible movement amongst companies making a difference in the world around them that we're just happy that we could play a part."

"We congratulate Pacific Dental Services and The Smile Generation on its efforts to do well by doing good," said Cause Marketing Forum President David Hessekiel. Over one hundred programs were entered in this year's Cause Marketing Halo Award competition.

"In this crowded marketplace, Cause Marketing Halo Award-winning campaigns have risen to the top because of their authenticity, effectiveness in communicating a cause message and ability to generate social and financial dividends," Hessekiel said. "These campaigns offer creative partnership solutions that leverage assets of company and cause."

Now in their 12th year, the Cause Marketing Halo Awards are North America's highest honor in the field of cause marketing, awarded by the Cause Marketing Forum, a company dedicated to providing business and nonprofit executives with the practical information and connections they need to succeed. Descriptions of all the Cause Marketing Halo Award winners can be found online at www.CauseMarketingForum.com/halo2014.

About Pacific Dental Services (PDS)

Founded in 1994, PDS is one of the country's leading dental support organizations, providing Supported Autonomy that allows dentists to concentrate on Clinical Excellence and the highest levels of cost-effective comprehensive patient care. PDS originated the PRIVATE PRACTICE +® model to allow dentists to focus on their passion: serving patients. PDS also pioneered the concept of modern dentistry – enabling dentists to combine advances in advanced technology with the best operational practices and procedures, highly skilled support staff and a commitment to ongoing training and education – to grow to more than 370 supported dental offices across the western, central and southeastern United States.

About The Smile Generation

The Smile Generation is one of the nation's trusted sources for dental recommendations. The Smile Generation connects patients with great dentists around the nation who are dedicated to delivering thoughtful, modern care with advanced technology The Smile Generation family is made up of more than 370 trusted dental offices throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. Smile Generation-trusted offices are supported by Pacific Dental Services.