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Bea Kersten Community Service Award09/22/2003
Bea Kersten Community Service Award
By Bob Freund
The Post-Bulletin
The Good Samaritan Dental Clinic in Rochester and its volunteers have garnered praise for saving the teeth of people who don't have insurance or can't afford dental care. The 13-month-old treatment center also has made a mark as a multi-agency effort that has worked.
Now the clinic's builders also have won statewide accolades. The Southeast Minnesota Building and Construction Trades Council received the Bea Kersten Community Services Project Award, given by the Minnesota AFL-CIO annually for volunteer service by a union.
Kersten was a union volunteer who "had a deeply felt conviction that we are our brother's and sister's keeper," the state labor organization said in a written statement.
The project to rebuild a former gas station into a dental clinic captured the crowd at the state AFL-CIO's convention in August.
"It really touches many people's hearts up there, seeing this type of volunteerism," said council president Wes Urevig. The award brought a standing ovation from the conventioneers, said Urevig, who also is business manager for the locally based electrician's union.
The building, which was provided by Mayo Clinic, was transformed from a two-bay auto garage and glass repair shop into a three-chair dental office equipped to current medical standards. It is located at 1027 Second St. S.W. in Rochester.
Early this year, The Construction Partnership, a joint effort of the trades council and contractors who employ unionized workers, agreed to manage the remodeling at the request of a Mayo executive who also serves on the Salvation Army board of directors.
"We knew at the Salvation Army we didn't have enough dollars to ?rehab this on our own," said Major Mark Welsh in a short film produced to explain the project.
Construction Partnership executive Don De Keyrel recruited Rodney Peterson, a retired construction manager, to oversee the job, estimated to cost $118,500.
Union trades workers volunteered labor, and the contracting companies donated equipment. Peterson himself built a cabinet to match one that was donated.
By completion, the total bill sent to the Salvation Army was $9,700.05, according to a speaker in the film.
The Construction Partnership acknowledged the award by showing the film at a Wednesday morning meeting. Salvation Army representative John Braddock thanked the trades and company representatives several times.
"Nobody should have to have a toothache and not have a place to have it fixed," job superintendent Peterson said on the film.
Good Samaritan has been the place for 1,005 patients who have come for 1,600 visits to receive volunteer care, clinic coordinator Maureen Johnson said late last week.
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