Anesthesiologist Dr. Larry Ydens has traveled with Operation Smile medical teams to such locales as Peru, Ethiopia, Mexico, Jordan, Nicaragua and the Philippines. His most recent surgical program, in February, took him to Malawi in southeastern Africa. Though he has worked as a doctor all of his life, these volunteer trips abroad make him realize how he can help transform the life of a child who may not have anyone else to turn to for medical care.

This year, Virginia Beach-based Operation Smile is celebrating 40 years of changing lives around the world. Through the organization, more than 326,000 children and young adults have had surgeries to correct facial (differences). Many of those operations were made possible only with local community support. One of those lives whose life was forever changed is Jose Villegas, who now lives in Hampton Roads and owns Manila House in Norfolk.

Mamta Shah, a registered nurse from the Denver area, has volunteered with Operation Smile for more than two decades, traveling the world with the organization, donating her skills and time and receiving blessings in return.

Global surgical nonprofit Operation Smile recently announced the hiring of Colleen Kenny as the Director of Development for U.S. Philanthropy in the Southeast United States. Her territory covers North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. She is joining a U.S. Philanthropy team of directors who are located across the country.

From ABC 4 in Salt Lake City: Park City looked a bit more like Hollywood as celebrities gathered for a charity event in Park City over the weekend. Operation Smile’s 10th Annual Celebrity Ski and Smile Challenge kicked off at The St. Regis Deer Valley and Deer Valley Resort to raise money for children affected with cleft lip and cleft palate.

On March 31, 2022, Dr. Bill Magee and Kathy Magee, co-founders of Operation Smile, were recognized with the Blessed Edmund Rice Humanitarian Award.

Kristie Porcaro, Chief of Strategy and Partnerships, sat with Cheddar News to discuss Operation Smile and its commitments for the next decade.

Let’s consider the definition of “defect.” Merriam-Webster defines “defect” as “a physical problem that causes something to be less valuable, effective, healthy, etc.” and “something that causes weakness or failure.” Hold up. Problem? Less valuable? Weakness? Failure? Are any of these words that we should be using to describe a condition that expresses itself outside of a person’s control — let alone the fact that they feed into the universal lie that someone is “lesser-than” another?

Building on 40 years of learning and success, Operation Smile is entering a new era as a global network driving access to high-quality health care. Providing safe, high-quality cleft surgery and care for children requires strengthening local health systems, and this can be further solidified through reliable partnerships.