Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Theurer.
Hi Jared, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
In 2006, I graduated from the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry and began to work with the Crown Council as a partner in helping me shape my philosophy of practice and overall culture. It was clear that I wanted the core value of “doing good for others” to be the foundation of my professional and personal career.
This was aligned with the Crown Council and its overarching mission. In 2010, I participated in my first international dental humanitarian outreach through the Crown Council and the Smiles for Life organizations in the Dominican Republic. We partnered with the Esperanza microfinance organization and I began to educate myself on not only the vast needs required to provide dental services on a simple weeklong outreach event but the overwhelming need to provide ongoing care for an organization as large as Esperanza.
Furthermore, the expense required for these events are not minor and each outreach trip is funded by the dentists themselves including travel, supply, and support team costs. I traveled to the Dominican Republic and Guatemala with the Smiles for Life and Crown Council teams each year after 2010 and began to involve my family in our efforts. My father was a dentist, my brother was a dentist, my father-in-law was a physician, and countless other family members began to travel with me to help support our efforts. In 2019 my wife, Heather, and I decided to begin a family initiative called Rivers For Hope.
We founded it with the subtitle, “The Ted B. Bernhisel and Henry A. Theurer Family Health Care Foundation” naming our grandfathers (who were both M.D.s in Salt Lake City and contemporaries/friends/medical school classmates of one another) as honorary title holders in our new family foundation. Rivers For Hope provides a win/win/win for our family dental outreach efforts. Each year we provide a fly fishing trip for dentists and their families on one of the western U.S.’s most famous fly fishing rivers. This includes 2 days of guided fly fishing, a day of adventure in the area we are fishing, and all the accommodations necessary outside of air travel. It also includes an evening of continuing education for our dentists so they are able to take a tax/business benefit with participation.
It also provides an opportunity for dentists and their loved ones to take some time with each other in experiencing something they might not usually consider taking time out for with one another. On our end, we receive the proceeds from the event to help provide for the supply costs of our ongoing dental outreach efforts with Smiles For Life, Crown Council, and Esperanza. We also get to create friendships for life by experiencing beautiful places with incredibly generous people!
Finally, Esperanza and the people who have dental needs in completely underserved communities are able to count on us to continue to provide dental care in the years to come. Secretly this is also a win for us as we realize there is so much more received by those giving service. One of my favorite axioms, credited to a mentor of mine named Roy Hammond, when we travel to render care is, “It’s not about the teeth.” These services are about creating relationships of love, showing others how much you care, and ensuring that we connect with other people in this world who have vastly different experiences than our own.
Often we talk about serving those who are poor and needy. This is such a misnomer. One can be poor but hardly needy. You can be very needy but have every opportunity and comfort in this world at your fingertips. The people we serve live life happily with meager means. They love each other. They want their children’s lives to improve beyond their own experiences and work hard for that to happen. But I digress…
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
You can imagine trying to coordinate schedules, money, last-minute complications, travel, and everything in between when trying to carry out a dental humanitarian project or an adventure for 30 people. Life happens! (In dentistry we say, Spit Happens! Haha).
We have had great support from the Crown Council and Smiles for Life in organizing our initiative! Honestly, we are working on expanding our efforts and vision by utilizing other organizations currently.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Pretty much have summed up what Rivers For Hope is all about. Personally, I have been working as a general dentist in Sugarhouse, Salt Lake City, Utah since 2006. I was raised in the Sugarhouse area where my father started his dental practice in 1978. I met my wife of 27 years at Highland High in 1989 and we never looked back.
We have 5 children, 4 boys and our youngest daughter ages 25 down to 11 years, and were blessed with the addition of a wonderful daughter-in-law 3 years prior. Heather and I love to fly fish and travel together with our family in tow from time to time. I keep up my fine motor skills as a locally accomplished fly tier and provide ammunition for my fly fishing children.
What would you say has been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Life is about those you meet and your relationships. Life is not about getting ahead, trying to accomplish so much so you can serve your self-interests. Life is about effort, experiencing, growing, failing, and learning all while involving those who mean the most to you in those efforts. It’s not about the teeth!
Pricing:
- Rivers For Hope Trips $4000 per person or $6000 per couple
- Smiles For Life Humanitarian trips $1800 per person excluding airfare
Contact Info:
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/riversforhope
- Other: www.instagram.com/smilesforlifefoundation
Image Credits
Benjamin Theurer
