Article By: Molly DeLeon
Suffolk Smile Train and Program Council co-sponsored a screening of The Hangover last Wednesday night in the Donahue café to educate students about the epidemic of cleft lips in developing nations.
The screening served as the second of many of Smile Train events this year; the first being a free viewing of the Academy Award Winning cleft lip documentary, Smile Pinki as one of Suffolk’s Welcome Week events. As a former board member of Program Council, John McDonnell, President of Smile Train, contacted them recently about potentially co-sponsoring an event to attract a larger crowd of people in an effort to reach a broader base of students. The charity’s hope is that this will instill knowledge to the greater student body and will result in contributing a substantial element of funding to the Organization.
The film, along with a complimentary ice cream bar, was displayed free of charge for Suffolk students as part of Program Council’s weekly “Meal N’ Reels” movie night. Smile Train came aboard last week to obtain a larger crowd of awareness for the cleft lip cause.
Smile Train is in its second year and was recently honored with the SGA Leadership Award for Best New Student Organization.
Priding itself as a very directed and specific charity, Smile Train’s focus is to bring an end to the problem of cleft lips and palates which affects millions worldwide, according to McDonnell. “Clefts are a major problem in developing countries where children are suffering from unrepaired clefts. Most cannot eat or speak properly, aren’t allowed to attend school or hold a job, and face very difficult lives filled with shame, isolation, pain, and heartache.”
All it takes to cure a cleft lip is a 45-minute surgery for the cost of $250, according to McDonnell. Smile Train’s focus is to raise money for these surgeries as well as to provide training for doctors and medical professionals on how to perform them.
Over 100 students attended the event, and was a huge success, according to McDonnell, who had a table giving away literature about the club, Smile Train shirts and copies of Smile Pinki.
Smile Train raised enough money to successfully aid one surgery with the proper medical supplies.
