The Communitas Awards, the pro bono recognition program of the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, recently recognized 30 exceptional businesses, organizations and individuals in several different countries for excellence in community service and corporate social responsibility. The state’s leading dental health provider Delta Dental of Missouri was one of the winners of this international effort to recognize the spirit of communitas, Latin for “people helping people,” according to a news release.

Delta Dental of Missouri was awarded for the giving of its resources to benefit communities statewide last year through its Land of Smiles and Winter Zoo programs, “Delta Difference” Student Scholarship, futureFOCUS 2010 Seminar and its support of Give Kids A Smile and Delta Dental Health Theatre.

“Delta Dental’s programs have succeeded at helping young children establish favorable attitudes towards oral health and overall health care and aided in the development of good dental habits that will last a lifetime,” Delta Dental President and CEO David Haynes stated in the release.