Seeing all of the ways that smiling benefits us makes it all the more disheartening that there are still children who suffer from a deformity that could be easily repaired in a 45 minute surgery. Operation Smile agrees and has devoted itself to providing life changing and even life saving surgeries to those born with cleft lips and cleft palates. From their website:
"Our free, life-changing surgeries take as little as 45 minutes, and can give a boy or girl with a facial deformity a lifetime of smiles. Plus, every child we heal creates a ripple effect on the child's family, community and country. Our medical volunteers span six continents — surgeons, anesthesiologists, pediatricians, intensivists, nurses, speech therapists, nutritionists, dentists, child life specialists and so many more. They do far more than provide free surgery for these children; they provide comprehensive care to treat the whole child. Imagine an older child whose cleft palate is fixed, but is still unable to speak — or a child who has never before seen a pediatrician or dentist before they encounter Operation Smile. Many of our patients are severely malnourished because their parents don’t know how to breastfeed a child with a cleft. Our medical teams give our patients specialized care so they can live healthy and productive lives."
Not sure how you can help? Glad you asked! There are several ways that you can help bring a smile to a child's face.
1. A surgery can cost as little as $240. Consider donating in honor of your child's birthday, to celebrate a special milestone or accomplishment, or as an alternative to office gift swaps why not have everyone pitch in and make a donation? Right now corporate partners have donated essential medical equipment and supplies for upcoming medical missions in 5 countries. Your gift multiplies 14X in impact to help ship them to waiting children. Every penny counts.
2. Buy something that you already need and watch a portion of the proceeds go to Operation Smile. Did you know that CampusBookRentals donates to Operation Smile with every textbook rented? I remember scouring the college bookstore for that last copy of a book needed, such a pain. With CampusBookRentals.com you just click and they will ship the book to you for free and then allow you to ship it back for free when you are finished - makes way more sense than buying books that you will get next to nothing for when you take it back to the bookstore!!
What always guarantees a big smile from you? Quick, go visit Operation Smile and share that joy with someone else!
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