Students Raise over $15K for Oral Cancer Foundation through Philly Oral Cancer Walk and 5K

Students from Penn Dental Medicine’s Oral Cancer Society, organizers of the Philly Oral Cancer Walk and 5K.

Philadelphia – Penn Dental Medicine students teamed with students from other area schools to present the Philly Oral Cancer Walk and 5K on April 6, building awareness of oral cancer and raising approximately $15,700 in support of the Oral Cancer Foundation.

This was the fifth year that students in Penn Dental Medicine’s Oral Cancer Society organized the event, and it was the most successful to date. The event drew a total of 203 participants – 104 runners in the 5K and 99 participants in the walk. Both the walk and the run started by Penn Dental Medicine at 40th and Locust Streets and wound through Penn’s campus and the new Penn Park.

“Building awareness for oral cancer has always been our first and foremost goal with this event,” says James Choi and Krisopher Paik, Co-Chairs of the organizing committee. “We could not be happier with how everything turned out. It was well received by the participants, students, and faculty alike. It was truly a city-wide event this year with the involvement of student volunteers from a number of schools.”

There were 120 student volunteers for the event, representing Penn Dental Medicine as well as Temple University, Drexel University, Swarthmore College, and Community College of Philadelphia. The Penn Dental Medicine students who served on the organizing committee were Co-Chairs James Choi and Kristopher Paik along with Erica Damante, Sajini Sasthri-R, Kruti Patel, Alice Bassani, Yaniv Harel, Payal Varma, Betty Yip, and Chris Kim.

Free oral cancer screenings, conducted by Penn Dental Medicine and Temple University faculty and residents in Penn Dental Medicine’s postdoctoral oral medicine program, were also part of the day’s activities along with post-race festivities the featured refreshments, music, and face painting.

Corporate and student group sponsors included Delta Dental, Identafi, P&G, Philadelphia Runner, Heartland Dental Care, Septodont, American Student Dental Association, Delta Sigma Delta, Schoenleber Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Society, Korean Student Dental Association, Eastern Dental Insurance Company, and the Graduate and Professional Student Association.

View photos from the event on the School’s Facebook page >>