I'd like to invite YOU to join our Op Smile team, and we can all make a difference together.
A little update for you.
I stopped my aesthetic surgery practice at the end of 2021 and am now devoting that time to assisting Operation Smile, teaching, and addressing the needs of children with facial deformities. Currently, we are fundraising to help in the areas we plan to go back to in 2023 in the Philippines and Vietnam.
My wife, Maureen, and I are excited to announce that we will co-host and participate in the Rhode Island Cycle for Smiles charity ride in September and October. This cycling event comprises teams from around the globe that will ride 40 miles in honor of Operation Smile’s 40th anniversary this fall. This will launch a ten-year impact plan to provide care for 1 million patients.
By joining our Operation Smile team, you will be part of our ten-year impact plan to teach, help develop local infrastructure and provide care for as many patients as possible through operation Smile in South America and Asia. I have worked with Operation Smile for over 20 years. We strongly believe in their mission, and their approach and that working through them will give us the most significant impact.
Headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Operation Smile is committed to creating solutions that deliver safe surgery in low-resource communities. Founded in 1982, Operation Smile started as a family-led, medical-mission-based organization and has now grown into a global healthcare network. With a presence in more than 60 countries and a network of more than 7,000 volunteers, Operation Smile has provided surgical care to hundreds of thousands of children and adults that suffer from cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial anomalies.
As we have found with patients who receive cleft lip and palate surgery, a new life can finally begin – a life free from stigma and filled with the hope for a brighter future. While patients' needs don't stop when a surgical program ends, Operation Smile's care gives children the confidence to pursue the opportunities they were once unable to realize. Operation Smile's driving principle is that every person deserves the chance to live a healthy and productive life.
As a volunteer for decades, I have witnessed Operation Smile's evolution into a multi-channel approach. To ensure patients' complete rehabilitation, a suite of services such as dentistry, speech therapy, nutritional counseling, orthodontics, and psychosocial support, among others, are necessary. Financial aid plays a crucial role in this global vision of health equity.
It allows for your contributions to Operation Smile to be directed to caring for children and programs where we are working in Asia and South America.
