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Our Story
Dr. Benjamin Harouni was murdered in cold blood at his dental office in a pure act of hate. He had celebrated his 28th birthday the week before.
Benjamin was our brother, son, grandson, cousin, friend. Benjamin was full of love and kindness and only wished the best for everyone around him. He dedicated his life to helping others by pursuing dentistry and working alongside his father at Smile Plus Dentistry. Benjamin was passionate about making the people around him smile, and he dedicated his life to helping others. He had millions of smiles left to make. He was taken too soon.
Our Mission
Hearts Over Hate (HOH) is a nonprofit organization established in honor of Dr. Benjamin Harouni to support families affected by violent crimes. Our enduring vision is to foster peace by educating the youth and organizing community events that cultivate compassion and kindness. Through this proactive approach, we aim to prevent violence before it occurs. Benjamin recognized the privileges he had in life and was deeply committed to helping those less fortunate. We are committed to honoring Ben’s legacy and shining his light even in the darkest times.
This past year, with our partners at Jewish Family Service (JFS) of San Diego, we launched the Dr. Ben Harouni’s Hope and Healing Fund, which provides critical short-term support to families affected by violent crimes. With this fund, our goal is to ease the emotional and financial burden through counseling and grief management support services, temporary housing assistance for families facing displacement or instability, and access to nutritious food to ensure that families can meet basic needs during their time of hardship. We serve families of all faiths and nationalities residing in San Diego, Riverside and Orange County. We aim to sustain and expand the fund so those in need can continue to receive care.
At our first event on March 1, 2025, the anniversary of Dr. Benjamin Harouni’s passing, we partnered with Cura Smiles to organize a free dental clinic at the Mid-City Church of the Nazarene in San Diego. We offered free dental exams, cleanings, x-rays, extractions, fillings and dentures to those with no dental insurance or access to dental care. We will be having our second annual free dental clinic on February 20, 2026 to continue the remembrance of Dr. Ben Harouni and create more smiles as he would have done.
