Fort Collins Pickleball Tournament Raises Funds for Kids’ Dental Care

Fort Collins is set to turn a round-robin pickleball bracket into something more concrete than a weekend ladder win: dental care for children in Poudre School District. Salud Family Health will host its inaugural PicklePalooza tournament on Saturday, April 18, at The Picklr at Jessup Farms, with proceeds going to Project Smile.

The event, officially called PicklePalooza: Salud’s Project Smile Pickleball Tourney, will be played at The Fort Collins Picklr at Jessup Farms, 1841 Jessup Drive #100. Salud has framed the fundraiser around Project Smile, which provides school-based dental screenings and treatment for children in the district. That direct payoff is what gives the event its reach, pairing the sport’s built-in crowd with a cause parents, schools, and sponsors can immediately understand.

Project Smile has deep local roots. The program began in Fort Collins in 2006, grew out of a partnership between the North Fort Collins Business Association and Irish Elementary School, and later transferred to Salud after a pandemic pause. Its dental-care work includes hygiene instruction, screenings, and coordination with the Larimer County Health District, Colorado State University pre-dental students, and volunteer dentists. Earlier Project Smile materials said the program aimed to reach more than 3,500 PSD students in a school year and raise $50,000, numbers that show why even one fundraiser can matter.

That scale also helps explain why pickleball has become such a useful format for community giving. The game draws regular players, club members, and casual participants into one easy-to-sell event, while the charitable side gives the day a visible outcome beyond medals and match wins. In Fort Collins, the setting adds to the momentum. The Picklr opened in Jessup Farm Artisan Village in November 2025 as the city’s first indoor pickleball complex, giving organizers a ready-made venue for a fundraiser that can look and feel like a true community event.

Salud’s broader footprint gives the effort added weight. The federally qualified health center says it operates 13 clinic locations, 11 school sites, and a mobile unit, all of which support its school-based care model. Poudre School District says it serves students’ academic, social, emotional, and physical well-being, and Project Smile fits that mission with a practical service that can change a child’s day long before it changes a bracket.