Welcome to my fundraising page!
My love of philanthropy and oral health unified 5 years ago & my advocacy of Smile Train began! Smile Train's model is of true sustainability - providing training, funding and resources to empower local medical professionals. Capacity-building is so important in giving cleft lip and palate patients the access to care and ability to thrive in their hometowns.
My Smile Train Journey
2023
I feel so blessed that Smile Train beautifully cultivated my "why" for serving others and the cleft community all in one article - Children with Clefts Can Depend on Tammy Vujanovic
Wrapping up the 2022-2023 YLC term with our annual conference in NYC! It was two days filled with community-building and learning more about Smile Train's partners around the world. We had the privilege of hearing from Dr. Sood, a Smile Train partner surgeon from India, and Smile Train's Director of Oral Health Programs, Monica Dominguez.
Smile Train YLC Conference, New York City, June 2023.
Alongside serving my second term as a YLC board member, I joined Team EMPOWER, Smile Train's endurance fundraising program. I turned miles into smiles as I ran my first ever marathon, the Big Sur International Marathon, for Smile Train and raised $1,500 during my training.
Running on Smile Train Team EMPOWER in the Big Sur International Marathon, April 2023.
I had the opportunity to go on my first Journey of Smiles to Mexico City, visiting the Cleft Leadership Center at Centro SUMA and a young cleft patient and her family in their home. This was my first experience meeting a baby with an untreated cleft lip and palate, visiting a clinic centered completely around providing comprehensive cleft care, and seeing first-hand the positive impact Smile Train has helped establish by building capacity in countries where there is a need for safe cleft care.
2021-2022
After graduating from the University of Mississippi and handing off Ole Miss Smile Makers to a new group of leaders, I joined Smile Train's Young Leadership Circle as a board member and began dental school at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Learning about dental medicine and craniofacial disorders such as cleft lip and palate has grown my love for Smile Train and their mission!
Many children with clefts around the world live in isolation but also, have challenges eating, breathing, hearing, and speaking. Smile Train’s sustainable model provides training, funding, and resources to empower local doctors in 70+ countries to provide these lifesaving surgeries and other essential cleft care 100%-free, in their own communities. Just $250 can cover the cost of a cleft surgery!
Smile Train's Young Leadership Circle is a group of professionals committed to furthering Smile Train’s mission by hosting fundraising events and educational programs throughout the year.
Smile Train YLC Conference, New York City, May 2022.
First day of dental school, August 2021.
2018-2021
My journey with Smile Train started in 2018 when I was in my sophomore year of undergrad at the University of Mississippi. As a new student on campus, I wanted to be part of a philanthropic dental/medical based club... but one did not exist. I connected with Smile Train and founded a new student organization on my campus called "Ole Miss Smile Makers" in support of Smile Train's sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. I spent my sophomore, junior and senior year building the club and growing our members. We even grew as a club on campus during the COVID pandemic and conducted all of our meetings virtually I graduated in 2021 and our organization is still active and growing under the leadership of current Ole Miss students!
Smile Train educational tri-fold on display at the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford, MS.
https://www.mysmiletrain.org/campaign/Tammy-Vujanovic-YLC-Board-Member