Southern California Chapter

1450 San Pablo Street, Suite 2000 Los Angeles, CA  90033-4680 (323)442-6401  Fax: (323)442-6481 E-mail:   OperationSmileLA@surgery.usc.edu

Changing Lives...One Smile at a Time

View Post Surgical Picture

• More than 50,000 children and young adults have been medically treated 20 countries and in the United States.

• $28 million dollars in medical services are provided annually.

• Each $1 donated is leveraged into approximately $6 in program support.

• One cleft lip operation costs just $750 in a developing nation.

• Two out of every three patients are turned away.

• In the developing world, the incidence of facial deformities is about 1 in 500; while in the U.S. it is 1 in 800.

• Operation Smile is the recipient of the 1996 $1 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize for its efforts to alleviate human suffering.

    Building trust and bridging cultures, we provide free reconstructive surgery and related health care to indigent children and provide medical training for nations to achieve self-sufficiency.   Since 1982, our volunteers have donated their time and skills to repair the faces of children disfigured and stigmatized by cleft lips and palates, tumors, burns and other birth defects, bestowing dignity at home and abroad.

View Pre Surgical Picture

But 2 out of 3 patients are still turned away

    It takes as little as 45 minutes and costs approximately $750 for Operation Smile to repair a cleft lip, giving back a smile and changing a life forever.  For every $1 we raise, we are able to leverage that dollar into $6 in program support, including volunteers and in-kind contributions.  In fiscal year 1998, Operation Smile spent $32 million on programs.  Just 10 percent is spent on overhead, allowing 90 percent to go directly to programs.

Mission Statement

    Operation Smile is a private, not-for-profit volunteer medical services organization providing reconstructive surgery and related health care to indigent children and young adults in developing countries and the United States.  Operation Smile provides education and training around the world to physicians and other health professionals to achieve long-term self-sufficiency.

    Operation Smile brings together health professionals with the public and private sectors to provide voluntary care to improve the quality of life for the children, families, and communities that share in the Operation Smile experience.  By creating international partnerships, Operation Smile builds trust, bridges cultures and bestows dignity at home and abroad.

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Our web site is continually updated with new information.  Please check back soon for the latest news articles, missions and events.

Send mail to OperationSmileLA@surgery.usc.edu with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: October 02, 2001