As tough as it is to loose our hair, imagine being a child with a deformed cleft lip and mouth (see photo below).

Fortunately there is a not for profit volunteer medical services organization called “ Operation Smile ” that surgically restores these children for life.

Operation Smile's volunteer medical professionals travel around the world to treat indigent children and young adults suffering from facial deformities. Their efforts mean new smiles for thousands of children. A $240 donation will pay for a lifetime restoration for one child.

I encourage everyone who gets a hair transplant to share the miracle of life changing surgery by helping put a life time smile on a child some where in this war torn world.

I think that Operation Smile not only restores smiles but good will. And doesn’t this world need all the good will it can get?

Please join me in contributing enough to pay for one life changing surgery for one child. They’ll smile and so will you.

To learn more and contribute online visit http://www.operationsmile.org/

Happy holidays and best wishes for a beautiful New Year!

Pat



Before-and-After-of-Cleft-S.jpg (53 Kb, 1076 downloads) Before and After cleft surgery

Pat,

Your post really hits home when you think about the big picture.
We as men whine because our scalps are getting larger. We worry about not getting chicks, future jobs,.......because of it.

But then you see the photos of little kids you have posted, and you have to begin to wonder how really traumatic is must be for a child to have to endure the stares, laughs and ridicule of something so disfiguring.

Maybe a hirloss actually isn't the worst thing in the world.

Thanks for the reality check.
I will send your link off to my friends.

Thanks for the reality check Pat. Very worthy cause I think. Just made a donation and I already feel better :-). I'm sure for some hair loss is more than just a vanity issue but it really doesn't compare to something like this. Unless maybe you had some huge 1 inch plugs from years ago :-O. Happy Holidays to you and thanks for your good work here.

"On behalf of the Operation Smile family, we thank you for your support. You will receive a confirmation email message and receipt shortly."

Pat,

What a great idea. Thank you for bringing this worthy cause to our attention. I will look into making a donation to this worthy cause!

Falc

Thanks to Byehair, flyby and Falceros for recognizing a truly worthy cause. It would be great if we could keep this cause in mind beyond the holidays by encouraging all patients to restore a smile when they restore their hair.

Such patients will then not only be in the "real hair club" but in the "smile club".

Perhaps those who contribute could add "Smile Club Member" to their signatures with a link to this topic.

Best wishes for restoring hair and smiles in the New Year - Pat

I have made a donation to this worth cause. I am now a Proud Smile Club Member and have added this into my signature.

Those who are interested in donating to a worthy cause, I recommend considering this one.

Falc

One of our very own recommended surgeons, Dr. Siporin in Southern California has flown down to Central America and performed these surgeries for free on children. His involvement is mentioned on the bio page of his website.

Kudos to him and other leading surgeons who donate their time for such noble causes.

Pat

<Bump!!>
I was looking thru the threads and came across this one. It's such a reality check AND a very good cause that I just had to bump it up!!
Have become a Smile Club Member myself!!
And that address again:
To learn more and contribute online visit http://www.operationsmile.org/

Dr. Carman,

Thanks for bumping this important thread and congratulations for becoming a proud smile club member. What a good cause to help restore a child's smile and giving them something to smile about!

Falc

Pat and Bill and Forum readers,

Operation smile does a great service for kids in impoverished countries. A few years back I travelled to El Salvador to repair cleft lips and palates in kids and found it to be a tremendously rewarding experience.

I travelled with a group called Childrens' Cross Connections, the Cross standing for both cross borders and Christianity's cross as our trip was but part of a non-denominational religious mission. As I have posted, my background is in Ear Nose and Throat in which I did my residency and then I did a Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery fellowship. We (facial plastic surgeons) have never been invited to go on operation smile missions as the general plastic surgeons who run operation smile do not recognize Facial Plastic Surgery as a legitimate speacialty. They will let Ear Nose and Throat Doctors go, but only to do ENT things like put in ear tubes/take out tonsils. That is total nonsense. However, OUR society isn't really any better. Face to Face is run by Facial Plastic Surgeons who generally don't ask general plastic surgeons to come, I guess for the same reasons the general guys don't less us come. Again I think that is Nonsense, we are trying to donate precious time to help others, not fight over breast aumentations and facelifts!

So, I went with Children's Cross connections, who at that time, would let anyone go. In fact our trip had 2 facial plastic guys, 4 dentists, a neurosurgeon, and 30 evangelical preachers who built a village for a group of people out in the middle of the jungle!

Our first day, over 500 potential patients showed up, easily half without shoes and who had walked all day to get to the clinic. We had time to operate on 50 kids; so you can imagine what it is like to leave your cushy life in the US and then have to tell 450 families who walked all day to get to you, that you can't help them. Talk about shock-loss.

We did just over 50 repairs and the government of El Salvador contributed anesthesia nurses and equipment, and we brought antibiotics, but most kids got no pain meds. We couldn't leave the US with them, and most folks couldn't afford them there. We also got to see some kids who my associate had worked on previously. These kids again walked all day to say thanks to Dr. Davis for his previous year's work! What appreciation.

I tell you, it was a life changing experience, and everyone should travel someplace impoverished to see just how great we have it here in the US, regardless of what your politics are.

So to conclude, I applaud you all for acknowledging Operation Smile, but recognize there are several organizations out there doing great work like this; all of whom may merit contributions from readers.

William H Lindsey MD FACS Reston VA

Thanks for calling my attention to this worthy cause. My good friend in Naples, Fla. Dr. Manny Peña volunteers every summer to repair cleft palate defects abroad. I have had an interest, but not had a chance yet. This is a good way to get started helping.

Thats awesome that there is a place to help these children. I have a 1 year old daughter and from the pics of that little girl on this page I changed the pic of my daughter in her place and it tore me to pieces.I will also give a donation myself.

We all really do sometimes need to take a reality check in our lives and when this organisation was brought to my attention by Pat, it was like a bolt from the blue.I have put together a team who are doing a 50 mile mountain bike marathon in September in the U.K.and we will be putting a lot of smiles back on a lot of faces.The funny thing is though that if we all did a little bit it really would make a collective difference.Although most could not donate the way Dr Siporin and Lindsay so unselfishly did, we can all play a part.Contact the organisation and see how you can help, i guarantee it will uplift your attitude and spirit.
Mick

I found this organization on a blog and did some research and was pleased to find out that they are geared towards putting your entire donation towards medical costs, and limiting overhead.

As worthy a charity as one can find, and I am a proud supporter of it, I hope anyone reading this will be too

Thanks to everyone who so generously has donated to the
Smile Club and other such worthy causes.

If anyone has contributed to Operation Smile, I encourage you to add a link to this thread in your forum signature. Everytime members and guests see it in regular poster's signature, they may be encouraged to donate to this worthy cause also.

Best wishes,

Falc