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PHILANTHROPY WITH PANACHE
Operation Smile
"The Three Little Bears" Launch
For as little as $240 you can help give a child a new smile and quite possibly the first teddy bear of their very own. Purchase the gift of a surgery on Operation Smile's new Facebook Giving Catalog or make a $240 online donation, and they will send a teddy bear on an Operation Smile medical mission to be hand-delivered to a child receiving surgery. To help remind you of your wonderful gift, you also will receive one of the commemorative bears for you to keep or share with someone special.
The story behind "The Three Little Bears" starts when two childhood friends decided to create special "Zachary," "Luke" or "Griffin" Teddy Bears and partner with Operation Smile for this holiday season. The bears are named after Lisa Lori's three sons, all who were born with facial paralysis. After enduring years of surgeries to give her own children their smiles, Lisa Lori partnered with her friend Kathy Van Zeeland to design the commemorative bears so they could bring comfort to children worldwide who are suffering from facial deformities. The two friends hope the bears will inspire people to give a smile and to emphasize just how vital these surgeries are to a child’s life.
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Luke, Zachary, and Griffin Lori, Kathy Van Zeeland.
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Lisa Lori, Kristie Magee-Porcaro, Kathy Van Zeeland. |
Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org), headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is an international
children’s medical charity with a presence in more than 60 countries, whose
network ofmore than 5,000 medical volunteers from 76 countries is dedicated to
helpingimprove the health and lives of children. Since its founding in 1982,
Operation Smile has provided more than 2 million patient evaluations and
conducted over 200,000 free surgeries for children and young adults born with
cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities, as well as patients
suffering from burns. To build long-term self-sufficiency in developing
countries, Operation Smile donates medical equipment, provides year-round
medical treatment through Comprehensive Care Centers, and trains local medical
professionals in its partner countries so they are empowered to treat their
own local communities.
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