ABOUT

Healing children’s smiles. Making the world a better place.

At Operation Smile, they measure themselves by the joy they see on children’s faces. They’re more than a charity. More than an NGO. They’re a mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate.

More than 200,000 children are born with a severe cleft condition each year — often unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile. In some places these children are shunned and rejected…in too many cases, their parents can’t afford to give them the surgeries they need to live a normal life.

That’s where Operation Smile comes in. Since 1982, through the help of dedicated medical volunteers, Operation Smile has provided free surgeries to children in more than 50 countries, healing their smiles and bringing hope for a better future.

Thanks to the generosity and spirit of volunteerism shown by Operation Smile supporters, they heal thousands of children per year. Today, more than 135,000 girls and boys have a chance at a new life because of their work. With more support from people around the world, think about how many more smiles could be saved tomorrow.

SUPPORT

Every dollar counts. Every gift helps change a hurting child’s life.

GIFTS TRANSFORM LIVES:

• For a little as $240, a supporter can help provide a cleft lip or cleft palate surgery. This surgery can change a child’s life forever and can take as few as 45 minutes.

• Contributions in excess of surgical costs are invested into sustainability programs, which empower Operation Smile partner countries to treat more children on their own.

• Operation Smile has more than 4,000 credentialed medical volunteers ready to donate their time and talent. Supporting gifts help send them to countries where desperate children are waiting to be healed.

GIFTS HELP TRAIN HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS:

• They have a worldwide network of teaching hospitals and university partners, including Duke University, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Penn State Hershey Medical Center and many others.

• Gifts help support their life-support training programs worldwide. Today, Operation Smile is authorized by the American Heart Association to function as a global and mobile International Training Organization.

• Their annual Physicians’ Training Program (PTP) brings doctors and nurses from around the world to the United States for advanced training in their specialized fields.

GIFTS BUILD AWARENESS AND LEADERSHIP:

• Their International Foundations and U.S. Chapters raise funds, recruit volunteers and raise awareness on a grassroots level.

• With support, Operation Smile continues to lead the way in effective, safe surgeries worldwide through medical diplomacy and research.

• 600 Operation Smile Student Clubs in the United States and around the world build awareness, conduct grassroots fundraising and educate students about values of commitment, leadership and volunteerism.

• The World Care Program brings children and young adults to the U.S. and other countries for surgeries that are too complicated to be performed during in-country missions.

For more information, please check out Operation Smile.