Operation Smile Club is raising awareness, along with funds, for children around the world with cleft lip or cleft palate.

Operation Smile, an international charity, was established in 1982, has a presence in over fifty countries and uses the funds internally for children’s surgeries. 

According to the Operation Smile website, over 200,000 children are born with severe a cleft condition each year.  These cleft conditions often leave children unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile.

Joshua Wall, president of the Operation Smile Club and a junior in history, said this is the first semester the club has been on its own.

“Operation Smile Club was a part of the pre-health club in the past, but the decision was made for Operation Smile Club to be on its own.  We don’t have an advisor for this.  It’s just the students,” Wall said.

Mackenzie Gibbons, a co-vice president of awareness and a freshman in biological sciences, said the club is hoping for more student involvement this year.

“I hope we can get more people involved this year,” Gibbons said.  “It’s really a great cause and so rewarding to know you’re helping someone live a normal life.”

Operation Smile Club is planning two fundraisers, according to Wall.

“In the fall, we’re planning to go to businesses on Hillsborough Street to see if they will donate a percentage of their sales to the club for a week,” Wall said.  “Then we’ll encourage people to go to these businesses, especially for that week.”

The club is hoping to have the fundraiser sometime in October, but they are still planning, Wall said.

“In the spring, we’re planning on having a run for Operation Smile,” Gibbons said.  “This is our first year doing a run, so hopefully we will have a great turnout.”

Operation Smile Club is planning on having the run in the middle of the spring semester. 

According to Wall, one surgery costs between $200 and $250.

“When we have the first meeting of this year, we will discuss how many surgeries we’d like to fund, but I hope we can do at least 10,” Gibbons said.

Wall said he first heard about Operation Smile on TV.

“I saw something about Operation Smile on television,” Wall said.  “I saw how the kids with cleft lip or cleft palate are excluded from school.  They’re scared to go because of how they get picked on and shunned.”

Gibbons said she chose to join the club because of how much Operation Smile does for children.

“I decided to get involved with Operation Smile because it truly changes children’s lives.  Without the cheap and simple operation to fix their cleft lip or pallet, they would spend the rest of their lives looking very different than everyone else.”

Wall said cleft lip and cleft palate are two different problems that are both caused by malnutrition in pregnancy.

“Cleft lip is when the lip is split in one part,” Wall said.  “Cleft palate is when the palate inside the mouth is split.”