“But I Love It,” as The Weekend would say in their top hit song “Can’t Feel My Face,” is my response when people ask why I am involved with Operation Smile. People often ask me why I am an officer of the Operation Smile club at UVA. They expect me to answer that I was involved with the organization in high school or that I am pre-med. However, I do not fall into either of these categories. My high school did not have an Operation Smile club nor do I intend to go to medical school to become a dentist, orthodontist, or oral surgeon. The first time I recall hearing about Operation Smile was when I was in middle school reading through “Seventeen” magazine on a flight home from spring break vacation. There was a powerful advertisement with a photo of a bright-eyed, smiling toddler with a cleft palate asking for donations. That photo left a place in my heart for the cause. And so, five years later when I encountered the “Operation Smile” booth at the activities fair as a first year undergraduate student, I was compelled to get involved.
Operation Smile is a nonprofit medical service organization founded in 1982 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. To date, the organization has provided more than 220,000 free surgeries to children born with cleft lip, cleft palate, and other facial deformities. The international medical charity has a global network of thousands of credentialed medical volunteers from over 80 countries. They are committed to improving the health and lives of children from more than 60 countries. At the Operation Smile Club of UVA, we seek to raise funds and awareness for the cause. It offers ways for students and volunteers to get involved, including the opportunity to go on a medical mission abroad.
Operation Smile has introduced me to so many amazing people that I would not have gotten to know otherwise. As an officer of the club I get to work with an executive committee on many projects. Every year during Trick or Treating on the Lawn we host our largest fundraiser called “S’mores for Smiles” in which people are able to make s’mores for a donation. In the past we have held a Yogathon, in which we offer yoga classes for donations, and a silent auction with the pre-dental society. It only costs $240 for a cleft lip and palette surgery and through this club we have raised well beyond that. Working for this non-profit has been so rewarding. I know that I am helping children in need and benefitting lives around the world by “changing lives one smile at a time.” I never planned on getting involved in this club, it is something that happened spontaneously, and I am thankful for it.
My personal goal with the non-profit organization is to go on a medical mission. However, this takes a lot of time, dedication, and hard work. First, I need to go to mission training held in California over the summer to be eligible for a two week long medical mission. Although partaking in a mission trip takes a lot of planning and funding, I am determined to do it. It is a cause that I am passionate about and I know it will be rewarding to be able to improve the lives of under-privileged children. I urge everyone to get involved with something they are passionate about. You are not required to have previous experience or related career plans to get involved with a club. You can merely get involved with a non-profit organization because it is a cause you care about and love.