I’ve had a lot of opportunities in life, and as soon as I earned my PGA Tour card in 2003, I knew I wanted to give back – I knew I wanted to do something for kids, something that would have both an immediate and a long-term benefit.

In our first years, we got involved in several great projects: helping build the Ryan Palmer Foundation Healing Garden at The Children’s Hospital of Northwest Texas Healthcare System and helping to remodel the playrooms, granted scholarships for high school golfers, were involved with NTPGA Jr Golf Foundation and established a golf endowment at West Texas A&M University.

These are all fantastic, but we really found our stride and our purpose when we connected my passion with my wife’s. Jennifer is a dentist, and she is acutely aware of how a child’s dental issues can affect their entire life and future. We both love kids, our heart is to help children, so it was only natural to start a program funding dental care for kids.

As we looked further into the idea, we discovered this vital need is going widely unmet by government and charitable programs. This knowledge has fueled our intensity, as we realize the Brighter Smiles Initiative of the Ryan Palmer Foundation may be the only chance many children have to correct the dental issues that cause low self-esteem, bullying, communication difficulties, and embarrassment and lead to even more problems in the future.

We know that by giving a child a healthy, beautiful smile, we can open doors of opportunity for that child that would otherwise be closed. Self-worth and confidence are only the beginning, leading to a brighter future for each young person we help.

We have partnered with some amazing and generous dental service providers who are dedicated to helping kids become the best version of themselves. We need your help. There are countless children who could potentially be impacted by the Brighter Smiles Initiative, and we have the opportunity and the responsibility to help as many kids as possible. We invite you to come alongside us – together we can do something really big. Together we can build an even brighter future.

Ryan Palmer