The impact of your gift is huge.
You are a change champion. Thanks to you, children’s lives are being transformed and more people are being informed about the need to give every child the ability to smile.
Cleft lip and cleft palate are among the most common birth defects in the world. These deformities can be life-threatening and emotionally traumatizing. More children in Latin America and the Caribbean are born with cleft lip and palate than in the United States.
With your support today, Sharing Smiles will provide cleft lip and palate surgery, pediatric dentistry and pediatric physical therapy to help children in developing countries. In 2017, your generosity made it possible for Sharing Smiles to:
- Transform the lives of over 550 children needing cleft lip and palate surgery, pediatric dentistry or physical therapy.
- Complete 13 international mission trips.
- Perform an estimated $1.5 million worth of surgeries, creating new smiles and changing children’s lives forever.
This holiday season, will you help us change more lives?
Thank you for your ongoing commitment.
Children who benefit from your support.
Angel Damien Martin Herrera
This is Angel Damien, and he is a very special boy. Born in 2013, Angel was his mother, Cynthia’s first child. During her pregnancy, everything seemed normal, until an ultrasound revealed a cleft lip. The current photo was taken in 2017 when Angel visited the clinic in Merida, Mexico for his routine appointment with a speech therapist and an orthodontist.
Darime Cuevas Garcia
Darime’s parents, Shirley and Edier, are grateful to AdventHealth and O’Horan Hospital in Merida, Mexico. Darime had surgery in 2016 for a bilateral cleft lip and in 2017 for a cleft palate. She is doing great and her parents are very pleased with the outcome of the operations. They continue to visit the clinic in Merida so Darime can receive follow-up speech therapy.
Dr. John Bishop, Pediatric Dentist - A Volunteer’s Story
“I began practicing as a pediatric dentist in Maitland, Florida in the early 1970s. When I was offered the opportunity to participate in a medical/dental mission trip to Guatemala, it opened my eyes to the tremendous need for medical and dental care outside the United States. When I retired from private practice in 2012, Dr. Wilbur Davis invited me to join him on dental trips to the Dominican Republic and Honduras through his association with Sharing Smiles. I committed to four trips a year. But my wife, Pam, who doubles as my assistant, and I have done 11 trips. Sharing Smiles makes the commitment so much easier. Knowing we helped contribute to those smiles feels amazing.”
