Give a Smile, Get a Smile!
As part of this year’s holiday giving season and to help celebrate Giving Tuesday, Smile Train , the world’s largest cleft charity, launched its new “Give a Smile, Get a Smile” campaign to help give smiles to children with clefts and, in exchange, help supporters get smiles of their own. Smile Train aims to raise enough funds to create 250 new smiles for children in need by December 31, 2015.
In effort to generate awareness and funds to support children with cleft lip and palate around the world, Supermodel, Actress and Smile Train Goodwill Ambassador, Christie Brinkley will illuminate the Empire State Building today in Smile Train’s signature red and blue colors. I would like to invite all New Yorkers to share their photos of the Empire State Building illuminated in Smile Train’s signature red and blue colors on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook using #EmpireStateBuilding, @EmpireStateBldg, #GivingTuesday, #GiveSmiles and @SmileTrain to ignite the global conversation about cleft lip and palate; and to encourage people to make donations this holiday season.
Smile Train provides cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries for children all over the world. They not only provide the surgeries but they provide speech therapy, dental work, financial aid and education for the residents of the different countries. At this moment, Smile Train has provided free cleft surgery for children in 87 countries which is astounding. They have an amazing philosophy. They provide local doctors with the tools they need to be self-sustaining and efficient so that they can do these simple, life-changing surgeries on their own. Not only does this create jobs in developing countries, but it changes the lives of the people who receive the surgeries.
This past January, I went to Mexico with Smile Train. What a truly life-changing experience!! We started in Mexico City and then went down to one of the suburbs. I cannot even begin to tell you what I experienced. I got to meet patients before surgery, during surgery, in recovery and then the next day in their homes. We also met patients that had their surgery years ago. This whole experience was beyond eye-opening… having children, I could not imagine not being able to help out my own. For as little as $250 you can change a child’s life and provide a smile. Click here to view my trip to Mexico with Smiletrain.
This Giving Tuesday, help me fill my jar for Smile Train. Every penny counts. We take our smiles for granted. Share the power of a smile 🙂
