Every Tuesday afternoon for the last 10 years at his First Hill office, Dr. Kalman Klass has donated free dental service to patients on welfare and those who cannot pay for medical care.
Helping those less fortunate at a local and international level has always been something Klass has considered an important part of his life.
And last December, he received a great, big, well-deserved thank-you from the community.
The American Red Cross serving King and Kitsap counties named Klass a 2006 Everyday Hero for excellence in medical volunteer work.
Klass, who donates an estimated $40,000 to $45,000 worth of dental care a year, has also volunteered his time to the Smile Mobile, a program created by the Washington State Dental Association. Through it, dentists travel in one-week intervals to underserved areas around the state, providing free dental services.
"Volunteering has always been a part of my life," Klass said. "I grew up watching my parents do a lot of volunteer work, and I just figured that [helping others] is a part of how you should live."
Klass, who completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota and attended dental school at the University of Iowa, said that his interest in dentistry started very young and continued through his teenage years.
His continued passion in the subject assured him that dentistry would be the "perfect profession" for him, he said.
While in dental school, Klass said, he and other students did various volunteer projects, ranging from helping to set up health fairs at the university, to volunteering to perform dental services in prisons and nursing homes his senior year.
Klass moved to the Seattle area in 1981 and opened the First Hill office.
As he started his practice, Klass worked on the side as a volunteer teacher at the University of Washington dental school.
Klass has also volunteered internationally, traveling to Jeru-salem every three to four years to work at a children's dental clinic.
"So many of the children - some from Jerusalem, some immigrants from places like North Africa and Russia - have been in a lot of pain for a long time," Klass said. "Many of the kids show that they really appreciate [the care]."
Klass, one of 13 award winners, was honored at the Red Cross' 11th-annual Everyday People, Everyday Heroes breakfast at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in December.
A short video spotlighting each winner's work was presented.
"[The breakfast] was wonderful," Klass said. "It was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had."
Katherine Boury, Red Cross media-relations officer, explained that community members submit nominations for the award to the Red Cross website each year, and that a small committee chooses the winners in nine different categories in September.
Klass was nominated for the award by Washington State Dental Association's Monnika Foro, who witnessed some of Klass' passion for helping the community through his participation in the Smile Mobile program.
While many of the honorees earned the award for one particular rescue or life-saving act, Klass expressed appreciation that the organization chose to honor someone in the medical field who had helped the community over a long period of time.
Each recipient accepted his or her award in front of about 800 people at the breakfast. The annual ceremony is the org-anization's largest fund raiser and provides support for Red Cross' fire-disaster relief efforts.
While Klass has received plaques and certificates of appreciation for his work in the community throughout the years, recognition, he said, is not his motivation for helping others.
"I don't expect anything in return [for my work]," Klass said. "I've never really had an interest in getting my name mentioned. That's not why I do it."
The humble dentist said that he doesn't plan on stopping his practice anytime soon.
"My objective is to try to figure out how long I can work, not when I can retire," Klass said.
"If I stop, I'm never going to be able to help as many people as I can when I am working. I hope to continue working for at least another 20 years," he said.
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