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Page 42 Section One WX THE SUNDAY STAR-LEDGER January 20, 2008

Health care fairto brighten smiles

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M ontclair dentist NicoleMcGrath is hosting ahealth care fair for chil-

dren called ‘‘Give Kids a SmileDay’’ on Feb. 1 at the CentralPresbyterian Church, 46 Park St.in Montclair, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

McGrath started a charitablefoundation called KinderSmilewith the goal of providing dental

health educa-tion and dentalcare for low-in-come children.At the fair,which is opento the public,there will befree exams andfluoride treat-ments, storytel-ling and artsand crafts thatteach childrenabout dentistry

and dental education materialsavailable for parents and teach-ers.

Children from Montclair andEast Orange Head Start pro-grams have been invited to at-tend along with children fromlocal day care centers. ‘‘AlthoughMontclair’s income per capita isup there, there is still a pool ofkids in town that have not seen adentist or that have Medicaid in-surance. I wanted to reach out tochildren in our immediate com-munity,’’ she said.

McGrath said every child whois seen at the fair will get a refer-ral to a dentist who will work withtheir insurance or provide low orno-cost care for them. Other den-tists are volunteering their timeat the fair to help do the examsand fluoride treatments, she said.

Students from Montclair HighSchool, volunteers from Mont-clair Kimberley Academy andmembers of Girl Scout Troop 31

will be helping out at the dentalfair.

The Kindersmile program hasalso received financial supportand supplies from the NationalChildren’s Oral Health Founda-tion, ToothFairy LLC, Sulivan &Schein, The Boye Foundationand Dentsply Inc.

Since October, McGrath hasconducted exams and fluoridetreatments at various preschoolsthroughout Essex County andhas hosted health educationworkshops, including one on pre-natal and postnatal dentistry toexpectant mothers in East Or-ange.

For more information aboutKindersmile or the oral healthfair, visit the foundation’s Website at www.kindersmile.org.

PHOTO EXHIBIT WITH A CAUSEWest Caldwell artist Eva Bou-

zard-Hui is hosting a photo exhi-bition for a good cause.

Bouzard-Hui, a painter andceramist who retired from teach-ing in Caldwell’s public schools in1994, is exhibiting a collection ofher original color photographs atthe gallery at Crane’s Mill locatedat 459 Passaic Ave. in West Cald-well.

The photographs includewhimsical portraits of residentsof Crane’s Mill, pictures taken inVenice and Assisi, Italy; photostaken at Liberty Science Centerand a collage of Bouzard-Hui’slate husband, ceramist KaKwong Hui.

Crane’s Mill is a retirementresidence in West Caldwell. Thephotographs will be on displayfrom Feb. 2 until the end of Feb-ruary.

But Bouzard-Hui said shewants to do more than just showoff the interesting places she’svisited and the people in hercommunity. She plans to donateany proceeds from sales of herphotos to ‘‘Girls Gotta Run,’’ aWashington D.C.-based charitythat provides shoes for girls inEthiopia.

‘‘They can change their livesthrough running,’’ she said.‘‘They run barefoot and win a lotof things and it can change theirlives.’’

Bouzard-Hui said she firstheard about the charity at a gal-lery showing in New York Cityand immediately felt a connec-tion to the girls in Ethiopia. Shesaid she has suffered from footproblems herself, but knows howlucky she is to be able to affordshoes. She said she knew shewanted to do something to help.

Bouzard-Hui, a longtime for-mer Caldwell resident, used toteach at Columbia UniversityTeachers College. She also is ac-tive in many social causes. Shehas taught art to patients in Pat-erson undergoing alcohol anddrug rehabilitation, she leads ameditative prayer group at a NewJersey prison and also volunteersat a soup kitchen in Newark.

She formerly owned the Bou-zard-Hui gallery on BloomfieldAvenue and donated a portion ofthe proceeds from her gallery tocharity.

Elizabeth Moore may be reachedat (973) 392-1852 or emoore@starled-ger.com.

ESSEXDIARY

ElizabethMoore

NOAH ADDIS/THE STAR-LEDGER

Conrad ‘‘Andy’’ Howell at the Maplewood Public Library.

Programmer winspresidential awardConrad ‘‘Andy’’ Howell43, Maplewood

OccupationSenior programmer analyst for

UPS and president of SidewalkUniversity. Member of the MonroeCollege School of InformationTechnology advisory board, theAntigua and Barbuda Council ofOrganization Board and volunteerfor the Children’s Village.

About the awardThe President’s Council on

Service and Civic ParticipationAward was created by PresidentBush in 2003 to help recognizethe contributions volunteers makein communities throughout theUnited States. Howell was pickedfor his volunteer work in New Jer-sey, New York and Antigua withSidewalk University.

Winning this award was a sur-prise for Howell, as his fellow UPSemployees nominated him se-cretly. The certificate and pinwere awarded to him on Oct. 18,2007, at a special departmentalpre-work communications meet-ing at the office.

Although Howell has been cele-brated many times throughout hiscareer, this award from the presi-dent was particularly important tohim. ‘‘You begin volunteering tohelp other people and never thinkabout getting awards. Receivingthis recognition from the presi-dent really makes me feel goodabout what I do. Awards from thegovernment always seemed likesomething that only businessmenwere awarded — not real peoplehelping other people,’’ Howellsaid.

JourneyHowell was born in Antigua,

W.I., moved to Harlem at 9, andthen to Jersey City when he was13. He majored in computer sci-ence at St. Peter’s College in Jer-sey City, and was the studentsenator for the class of 1987. Out-side of school, he worked on sev-eral projects with the Black ActionCommittee, the Urban League ofHudson County and the pre-col-lege program at St. Peter’s Col-lege.

Improvement from ground upHowell began his work with

‘‘Called to Attention,’’ a TV showheld on the corner of Forrest Ave-nue and Martin Luther King Drivein Jersey City. Those working onthe show asked residents fromthat corner to come on the pro-gram to discuss what was hap-pening in the community andwhat they felt was needed to im-prove it. He found many of theproblems were due to a lack of‘‘financial literacy’’ and a lack ofknowledge regarding higher edu-

cation.He created Sidewalk University

in 2001 in Jersey City to addressthose needs. Today, Sidewalk isinternational, offering coursesand workshops for students andadults on pre-college education,career strategies and financialplanning in multiple countries. ‘‘Ibelieve education makes every-thing possible, and education isthe only thing that will enhancethe economic conditions of poorpeople,’’ Howell said.

Their pre-college programworks in partnership with the Col-lege Consortium (NJIT, UMDNJ,Rutgers-Newark) of Greater New-ark. Most of the students in theprogram come from Irvington,Newark and East Orange, and arefirst-generation college students.He sees a great difference be-tween the education system inthe inner cities and that of thesurrounding suburbs, and feelsmuch of that responsibility lies inparents’ lack of involvement inthe schools.

‘‘Many parents living in theinner city who have never been tocollege are not active participantsin the education system becausethey don’t understand the valueof education. Most of the college-educated parents in the suburbsare involved because they have avested interest in their children’scollege career.’’

Sidewalk communicates the im-portance of higher education andencourages parents to attend PTAmeetings, vocalize what’s lackingin public schools and hold the sys-tem accountable for fixing it.

Financial literacyOne of the most promising new

programs at Sidewalk is the Eco-nomic Empowerment Resourcesprogram at the New Jersey Insti-tute of Technology, directed bythe Rev. Jesse Jackson. The pro-gram educates high school stu-dents and their parents on saving,investing and managing theirmoney — this essential knowl-edge he calls ‘‘financial literacy.’’

For example, one thing Howelldoes is encourage his audience toclip coupons and bring them toclass for him. The students bene-fit by learning an everyday mon-ey-saving method, and Howellbenefits by using them to savemoney in his own grocery shop-ping — a small compensation forthe extensive time and energy hevolunteers.

FamilyWife, Lisa; children, Alex, Dan-

ielle and Gabrielle, and Iva Spen-cer.

— Elizabeth Faye de Pasquale

MLK BIRTHDAYCELEBRATION

on

Monday, January 21, 200812:00pm

at Cicely Tyson School of Performing Arts(next door to the church)

with

The ReverendDR. FLOYD H. FLAKE

Senior Pastor, Greater Allen AME Cathedralof New York, NY

Reverend Robert N. Burkins, Sr., Senior PastorReverend Dr. Curtis A. Jones, Associate Pastor

ELMWOODPRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

135 Elmwood Avenue, East Orange

For more information visit our website atwww.elmwoodchurchnj.org

or call (973) 678-0055

G All AME C

Celebrities

MAKE A D IFFER ENC ELearn How You Can Be a Volunteer CASA (Court Appointed

Special Advocate) for abused and neglected children in Essex CountyTuesday, January 22

7:30 p.m.Bloomfield Public Library

90 Broad St., Bloomfield, NJTuesday, January 29

7:30 p.m.Maplewood Memorial Library51 Baker St., Maplewood, NJ

To RSVP or for more information,call Carol Costello at973-648-2814.

E S S E X COUNT Y COUR T A P PO I N T E DS P E C I A L AD VOC AT E