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Since my original goal was reached so quickly, the goal is now to raise money for 10 surgeries total. I am asking for each indiviual visiting this page to donate 10% of one surgery ($24) or more :).
This will provide 10 CHILDREN with the life changing surgery they need.
Please donate today and help me reach this goal! We all have $24 or more to spare.
(Plus it is tax deductible!)
My Story
Like countless others across the globe, I was born with a cleft lip. At the age of 18 months, I was chosen by Shriners to receive a donated surgery. There was a newer method of cleft correction available and the surgeon was actually teaching other doctors this new method during my procedure. They did such a great job that today you can hardly tell I was born with a facial deformity.
I was very lucky to be born in a place where we value children even if they are not perfect and where medical treatment is readily available, even for those who may have difficulty affording it. Shriners providing the surgery for me free of charge changed me physically and, no doubt, emotionally. While I do not remember anything before my cleft correction, I am sure my life would have been difficult without it: just as I am sure anyone taking the time to read this can imagine how self-conscientious individuals may be about physical deformities they possess. It’s hard to hide your face from the world.
Like many others in the early 2000s, I began paying attention to news coming out of Afghanistan. I was shocked to read an article discussing the society’s response to children born with any kind of cleft. To be honest, I had never thought much about it. I began researching cleft statistics around the world and discovered not only its commonality (1 in every 500-700 children are estimated to have cleft deformity), but also some of the terrible ways some societies respond and the devastating effects it can have (1 out of every 10 children with a cleft will die before their first birthday). How fortunate I am to have been born in a place where I could receive the life-changing surgery.
When I moved to the Washington, DC area this past April, I discovered a local chapter of Operation Smile. I examined closely the strategy Operation Smile employs to affect change in the lives of those they touch, as well as their attitude towards sustainability in the foreign countries in which they work. What I found exited me. I contacted the organization's headquarters and they put me in touch with the local chapter. I am now excited to be part of an organization that provides such a life-changing procedure for families worldwide - for free!
This season I am reaching out to raise funds, hoping to provide the gift of life changing surgery to 5 children who were born just like me.
Together, We Can Change Lives
Operation Smile mobilizes a world of generous hearts to heal children’s smiles and transform lives across the globe. Operation Smile’s network of volunteers works worldwide to repair childhood facial deformities including cleft lips and cleft palates.
I hope you'll help me bring hope and new smiles to children suffering from facial deformities.
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