Officials who organized a free dental clinic this weekend in eastern Iowa have closed the patient line for today due to “overwhelming” response. The Iowa Mission of Mercy clinic at the U.S. Cellular Center opened today at 7 a.m. with more than 800 people waiting in line.
Officials closed the line and plan to allow a new line to begin forming at 5 p.m. Another clinic will run from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow. KCRG-TV’s Dave Franzman spoke with some of the people who arrived Thursday afternoon to make sure they were at the front of the line.
“It was okay at first,” one woman said, “then everybody started sleeping and snoring in different tunes. It was chaotic.” Another woman said she drove 200 miles to start waiting in line at 5 p.m. Thursday. “It’s very important. When you live on Social Security, you live pretty poor,” she said.
Hundreds of volunteers are providing the free dental care. This is the third time a Mission of Mercy event has been held in Iowa. More information about the free dental clinic is available online at www.IowaMOM.org.
By Dave Franzman, KCRG-TV, Cedar Rapids