Community Outreach / Smile Train

Smile Train
http://www.smiletrain.org
Total Donated — Five cleft lip surgeries totaling $1250

Stanbridge College students, faculty and staff raised money to help 5 young children around globe have a second chance to live a life with a smile in June and July of 2009. The original goal of 4 surgeries was reached and exceeded through the efforts of the Stanbridge College community coming together to make a drastic change in 5 children’s lives.

“Clefts are a major problem in developing countries where there are millions of children who are suffering with unrepaired clefts. Most cannot eat or speak properly. Aren’t allowed to attend school or hold a job. And face very difficult lives filled with shame and isolation, pain and heartache. The good news is every single child with a cleft can be helped with surgery that costs as little as $250 and takes as little as 45 minutes.” — Smile Train website

The Smile Train is the world’s largest cleft charity, helping more than 350,000 desperately poor children with cleft, training tens of thousands of medical professionals and establishing hundreds of programs in 75 of the world’s poorest countries. Each year, Stanbridge College donates funds to change the lives of five children with a cleft lip.