Life Update & Operation Smile

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone has had a great weekend whether sledding in the aftermath of Hurricane Blizzard Nemo, planning for Valentine’s day, or spending a relaxing weekend with friends and family – I did a bit of all three!  The snow that blanketed Manhattan was absolutely gorgeous and I love this photo I took on my walk to the gym on Saturday.  I have been so excited to watch the amazing trends coming out of New York City’s Fashion Week (um, yay) and I was so excited to read this wonderful article Adriana wrote about me.

  After a month at my new job I am really liking it and it is so different but one of the only things is that I do not have a lot of time to actually volunteer to help those in need.  As I have been keeping a tighter budget since the beginning of the year I am happy to report I am about to make my first small donation to charity, one of my New Year’s Resolutions.

 

When looking for a charity to donate to their are a few things I identify: (1) What the cause is and what  my money goes towards (2) How much of my donation goes to help those in need (3) What’s the catch? After a few weeks of researching I am ready to make my first donation to Operation Smile.   I am sharing this because I was really taken by their mission and all of the good they are doing. You have probably heard of this affliction but in case you have not here is a VERY BRIEF summary:

Cleft lip and/or palate occurs in approximately 1 per 500-700 births, the ratio varying considerably across  geographic areas or ethnic groupings.  A cleft is an opening in the lip, the roof of the mouth or the soft tissue in the back of the mouth. It occurs when the two sides of a palate do not join together, resulting in an opening in the roof of the mouth and 1 in 10 children born with a cleft palette will die before their first birthday and many are abandoned by their parents.

Okay, that was all I needed in order to get my hooked on this cause.  With their financial statements and annual reports (here) very public on the Internet this was a great facet of the program for me because you can see exactly where the money goes.   I was really impressed with the site, press, and testimonials.  The company has surgeons who volunteer to perform free surgeries and to teach other doctor’s how to do the procedure which is how the cost per surgery is only $240. It is amazing that this amount of money, the same as a mid-level handbag, and 45 minutes can make such a difference in a child’s life.  Unfortunately, I am not in the position to donate the cost of a full surgery right now but reading this blurb on their website, “The Argyros Family Foundation knows how heart-breaking — how life-threatening — cleft lip and cleft palate are, and how urgently these children need surgery to fix their broken smiles. They’ve pledged $1 million, and they’ve challenged supporters like you to match it.”  made me feel like my donation really will make a difference!