October 2, 2020 is World Smile Day. There are tons of ways to celebrate, but the main purpose is to do an act of kindness that puts a smile on someone’s face. This year, we're celebrating a few of our partners who are changing the lives of thousands of children born with cleft conditions. We’re proud to partner with such a diverse array of organizations whose support allows us to extend our impact to more people and places.

Mölnlycke

With safety as our top priority, our partnership with Mölnlycke has helped us ensure that both our medical volunteers and patients are protected during surgeries. 

Since 2004, Mölnlycke, a world-leading medical products and solutions company that equips health care professionals to achieve the best patient, clinical and economic outcomes, has donated over 1.5 million pairs of Biogel®surgical gloves to Operation Smile.  

Over the past 10 years, Biogel®surgical gloves have been used to heal the smiles of more than 96,000 patients on over 500 international medical missions. 

Aligned in our vision to improve our patients’ health and dignity through safe surgery, Mölnlycke has supported us with over $5 million in product and cash donations, and their commitment to advancing health care has expanded to their global employees who raise funds and awareness to support #cleft surgery. The company’s initiatives surrounding World Smile Day are yet another example of Mölnlycke’s commitment to patients and families affected by cleft conditions around the world.  

In September, their Corporate Social Responsibility team launched an employee-driven #makingsmiles2020 E-card campaign. Employees are encouraged to upload their own photo into the card, send it to colleagues, friends and family, and to make a donation to Operation Smile with each card sent. Mölnlycke is also raising awareness about our work by producing and sharing a video featuring their employees spreading smiles around the world.  

On this World Smile Day, we’re so grateful to be able to celebrate alongside Mölnlycke and thank their employees for their generous and steadfast support. 

Baxter

Teaming up with Baxter International Foundation makes it possible for Operation Smile to strengthen the health systems in India and provide safe surgery to those who need it most. 

In January of 2019, the Baxter International Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Baxter International Inc., committed $2.24 million over three years to support a project that advances safe surgery in India. The grant supports the ongoing maintenance of Operation Smile’s year-round multidisciplinary and surgical care centers in Mumbai, Srinagar and Bangalore, operated in partnership with INGA Health Foundation. 

In addition, the funds helped Operation Smile launch a new center in Durgapur, West Bengal, at the IQ City Narayana Multispecialty Hospital on March 7, 2019. It serves as a hub for operations, supporting surgical service, multidisciplinary care, education and training, and ongoing medical programs in West Bengal and surrounding states. 

The care available at the Durgapur center includes surgery, speech therapy, dentistry, and nutritional counseling. We are grateful for Baxter’s partnership and support as we seek a future where safe surgery is accessible and affordable for all.

Close To My Heart

As we celebrate World Smile Day, a holiday all about spreading kindness, we’d like to recognize our partner Close To My Heart. 

Close To My Heart is a direct-sales paper crafting company dedicated to celebrating relationships, discovering creativity and preserving and sharing life's moments. They have supported Operation Smile since 2007, and to date, their Consultants have raised over 1.8 million dollars for our work through round-up order campaigns, T-shirt, stamp set and scrapbook album instruction sales and home-grown fundraisers.

Their commitment to working with us and elevating health care systems around the world is seen through the patients whose lives they've helped change.

Moon Oral Care

From daily oral care essentials to life-saving cleft surgeries, Moon Oral Care, like Operation Smile, envisions a world where every child has what they need to let their most vibrant smiles shine. 

Since their launch in 2019, the company has committed the equivalent of more than 350 life-changing, life-saving surgeries to children living with cleft lip and cleft palate.

This year, Moon will be launching a World Smile Day fundraising drive throughout the week leading up to World Smile Day on their social media channels, encouraging their supporters to make a donation to Operation Smile and join them in supporting healthy smiles everywhere.

We value having a corporate partner like Moon, that appreciates the impact a smiling child makes on the world around them. 

On World Smile Day, we celebrate their support of Operation Smile’s programs and thank them and their supporters for their contributions to bring joy into the lives of children born with cleft lip and cleft palate.

Stryker

Together, Stryker and Operation Smile work to better the lives of people living in low- and middle-income countries where access to high-quality health care services is limited. 

For more than 20 years, Stryker has stood with us on the frontlines of change, helping us to deliver critically needed surgical care to thousands of our patients in addition to building in-country capacity through education and training opportunities for local health care workers.  

With a shared vision of improving the dignity and well-being of children affected by cleft, Stryker donates medical supplies and supports our medical education programs and Stryker’s employees drive greater awareness and fundraise for Operation Smile, supporting our mission.

Collectively, Stryker’s financial and product donations have helped us deliver surgical care to thousands of children and adults. This includes donated PhotonBlade™ that have been essential to our volunteer medical teams in providing safe and effective surgical cleft care. 

As we celebrate World Smile Day this year, we’re proud to have each of Stryker’s compassionate and devoted employees by our side as we continue to care for patients.   

Balsam Hill

Since 2014, Operation Smile has shared a mission of creating festive cheer with Balsam Hill, the leading retailer of stunningly realistic artificial Christmas trees and timeless holiday decor.

They have supported our life-changing work by bringing new smiles to the faces of more than 1,300 children and young adults born with cleft conditions through the annual Celebrities for Smiles campaign, which will be returning for a seventh year this December.