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Army officer to child advocate

Making a difference in the lives of children

Clint Saner

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Volunteering has been ingrained in Clint Saner’s character.

He participated in Boy Scouts, was active in school activities, attended Seattle University on an ROTC Scholarship, and was exposed to volunteering throughout his youth.

“I learned the importance of giving back at an early age,” said Saner, who makes a living as a wealth manager for the Bank of Tacoma.  “The military cemented my desire to volunteer.”

With nine years of military service as both an active and reserve officer, Saner, who was an engineer in the Army, wanted to find a way to volunteer.  About five years ago, he became a loaned executive for the United Way and learned what the organization does.

As a volunteer for the United Way, he was exposed to the Lindquist Dental Clinic for Children, the only nonprofit dental clinic in Pierce County. When his stint as loaned executive ended, he was asked by the Lindquist chief executive officer to join the board.  He accepted the invitation and has never stopped being amazed at the impact the clinic makes on the community, he said.

In 2008, the clinic serviced 13,000 appointments for 5,600 children, said Melanie Manista-Rushforth, the development director of the clinic, who also served in the Army. The clinic receives a portion of its funding from the United Way of Pierce County.

The clinic, which has locations in the Parkland Center and Gig Harbor, has reached out to low-ranking soldiers and their families, Manista-Rushforth said.

“There are kids who come in with nine cavities at one time,” she said. “Tooth decay is the most common chronic childhood disease in America, affecting half of all first graders and 80 percent of all seventeen-year-olds.  We need to make sure kids are getting dental treatment.”

In an attempt to reach all children, the clinic officials arranged a deal with TRICARE to waive the co-pay for low-ranking service members so that the families could afford to provide dental care to their children, she said.

“Because we are a nonprofit dental office, we were able to make this accommodation,” she said.  “But we don’t turn anyone away because of an inability to pay.”

The outreach for military families played another important part in Saner’s desire to volunteer as the vice chair of the board of the dental clinic.

“I come from a military family, and I was in the military,” said Saner, who is also a volunteer board member of the ABCD Dental program, which is an initiative between private dental offices and the county health department.  “I like that Lindquist sees children regardless of an ability to pay.”

Saner has seen a lot of growth at the clinic during his tenure, he said.  In the past five years the clinic has gone from five to 10 chairs and opened a clinic in Gig Harbor, he said.

As for his involvement in the United Way, Saner is impressed with the visionary leadership, he said.

“The United Way is an incredible organization,” he said. “The organization does do many things behind the scenes that never get public attention.”

But at the end of the day it’s about child advocacy, he said.

“At the end of the day, I volunteer because kids are victims of society,” said Saner, who deployed to Iraq as a reservist in 2006 and is a wounded warrior.  “Children need advocates, and I can do that for them.  To me, volunteering is the right thing to do.”

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