Operation Smile At Yale

Operation Smile at Yale is a college chapter which was founded in 2006 and is dedicated to the five pillars of Operation Smile Student Associations: awareness, leadership, education, fund-raising, and service. We hope to hold fund-raising events in conjunction with other student organizations, educate local middle and high school students about cleft lips and cleft palates, and host speakers who represent Operation Smile and like-minded causes.

Description:
Operation Smile at is an international, non-profit organization that sends teams of surgeons and other health professionals to over 25 countries worldwide to do free reconstructive surgeries on children with facial deformities. The areas Operation Smile medical missions travel to are generally very impoverished, and children with facial deformities in these communities are often seen as cursed. Many of them are not allowed to leave their homes to go to school, make friends, or ever have normal lives. A simple cleft lip operation takes about 45 minutes and costs about $240 on average. For this small amount of time and money, a child's life is completely changed.
At Yale, students work to fund-raise money directly supporting these medical missions. In addition, because a main goal of Operation Smile is to spread awareness, the chapter sends students to local New Haven middle and high schools to educate students about cleft lips and promote interest in fund-raising.

History:
The college chapter of Operation Smile at Yale was founded in 2006. The goals of the organization are to build awareness, raise funds, and educate students about the values of commitment, leadership and volunteerism.

Contact people:

Tiffany Lo, Educational Awareness Chair, (phone), (email) Jess Catlin, Board President, (email)

Address:

PO Box 201962 New Haven, CT 06520

Web Site: http://yalestation.yale.edu/operationsmile/

Last updated on December 9, 2008