Thank you for visiting my Smile Train fundraising page! I'm so glad you're here.
I have decided to join Smile Train's Young Leadership Circle Board as a way to give back to children like me. Smile Train is an international children’s charity with a sustainable approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. This is a cause that's very near and dear to my heart. I was a cleft kid.
Growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, I was privileged to receive the best care the region could offer to a child born with a cleft lip and palate. I endured countless repair surgeries from ages three months (my mom described me as an "alien baby") to 18. Along with each invasive surgery or dental procedure came months of intense recovery in order to look, eat, speak, and breathe the way I do today. Not once did I feel unsupported by friends or family. Kids at school even threw me welcome-backparties each time I returned from time off. I felt more or less normal.
Now that I'm older, I can see how that seminal experience shaped the determined and resilient woman I am today and I'm very grateful to everyone who helped me along the way. But my story is truly an American story --- and an affluent one at that.
Many children with clefts around the world live in isolation, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing, hearing, and speaking. Smile Train's sustainable model provides training, funding, and resources to empower local doctors in 70+ countries to provide lifesaving surgeries and other essential cleft care to their neighbors in need, 100% free.
Uplifting a child's life through cleft lip and palate repair is easier than you may think. The problem is that this issue is not talked about enough. That's why it's so important that we educate people on how a simple surgery through Smile Train can dramatically change their future.
Help us bring a smile to those in need.
Thank you for your interest, support and generosity!
https://www.mysmiletrain.org/campaign/Sydney-YLC-Board-Member