Every 3 minutes, a child is born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. Operation Smile is one of the largest volunteer-based medical charities providing cleft surgeries to these children, free of charge. Through a partnership with Cydcor, hundreds of dollars have been raised to benefit this amazing children’s medical non-profit.

“Operation Smile is about more than just one child’s before and after,” said Dr. William Magee, Jr., Operation Smile Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “It’s using that child as a metaphor, and that metaphor essentially says, “Involvement can create change.”

“One surgery costs as little as $240. Operation Smile heals thousands of children each year. Cydcor has used its reach to introduce how individuals can help somebody else who may be half way around the globe. These individuals may never remember our name, but will never ever forget our kindness."- Dr. Magee shared.

Cydcor has partnered with Operation Smile since 2010. Cydcor has changed thousands of lives with a goal of raising more than $1 million dollars.

“Cydcor and Operation Smile fit together. We take care of children; people at Cydcor take care of people,” said Kathy Magee, Operation Smile Co-Founder and President. “Can you imagine Cydcor people not being able to smile at their clients? They’re showing their social responsibility by being a part of a charity that makes changes everywhere. You can make all the money you want in the world, but when you start to care about people, it really comes back to you tenfold.”

Vanessa Castaneda McCaffrey, an Operation Smile Ambassador for Cydcor said, “Philanthropy is a part of who I am, and one of the main reasons why I wanted to be a part of Cydcor. I think this is a platform for us to work with our offices and show them that the skills that we teach them to build their companies can be used in different arenas that can make a bigger impact around the world.”

“We have an expression in our business that if someone doesn’t have a smile, give them one of yours, and being able to change their lives and help them get the confidence to smile and live a happy life—it really touches your heart,” added Jim Rothermel, an Operation Smile Ambassador for Cydcor.

The annual “Day of Smiles” is Cydcor’s largest fundraising event. This is a day where Cydcor and its network of sales offices around the US, Canada and the UK, go door-to-door fundraising for Operation Smile.

Eric Chapman, an Operation Smile Ambassador for Cydcor, spoke about his experience participating in the Day of Smiles. “On Day of Smiles, I was standing on the side of the road. I was collecting money, and I was a little anxious about it ’cause I thought a lot of people probably wouldn’t want to give money. But instead, I was overwhelmed by how many people did, and I had people roll down their windows and tell me that they had been on a mission, and that Operation Smile was something very important to them.”

Cydcor and the sales offices have funded thousands of cleft surgeries, changing lives around the world.

“I got the opportunity to go to Guatemala last year: Absolutely amazing experience. It was sometimes heartbreaking, it was very emotional, but ultimately to see the kids when they’re healed and they’re happy … I mean, you can’t put a price tag on that,” said Ed Cunliffe, who attended the Cydcor and Operation Smile funded mission trip to Guatemala in 2015.

George Papalexandratos, another Operation Smile Ambassador for Cydcor added, “Our business is all about giving back, and it’s about becoming a “servant leader” to your people, and that’s exactly what we’re doing with Operation Smile: We’re developing our people and the future of this company to be a servant leader in our business, and a servant leader to our community.”

“The world needs businesses like Cydcor. They have energy, they have enthusiasm, and this is a group that really can come behind us,” said Kathy Magee.

“If you ask any one of the Cydcor representatives that went on trips with us, whether it be to Brazil or to Mexico or wherever, they’ll come back and tell you that they never realized how lucky they were. They never realized how much they could help, and that also changed their life. It has given them a different perspective,” concluded Dr. William Magee.

“Those individuals in Cydcor that have gone out of their way, and whether it’s door to door or whether it’s through corporations, to introduce Operation Smile—they’re the ones that have really created change, and it’s a beginning of getting our communities more stabilized and more understanding what the simple truth in life is, and that is to care about other people.”

Cydcor has recently raised enough funds for a 7^th medical mission in benefit of Operation Smile, to take place in a location to be determined.

For additional information about Operation Smile and to learn how you can help, visit http://www.operationsmile.org/

For additional information about Cydcor, visit https://www.cydcor.com

In November 2014, Cydcor sent a group of representatives on a medical mission trip to Guatemala for Operation Smile.  Our own Darlene Mitchell, Chief Information Officer and Vice President of Technology at Cydcor, wrote the following about her time in Guatemala:

It was thrilling to join such an outstanding group on the Operation Smile medical mission to Guatemala. Though I was unsure what to expect, I knew we would touch the lives of others and, in turn, be forever changed by the experience. We were fortunate to experience several aspects of the mission: registration day, child life/prep, surgery, recovery, pre- and post-op, and medical records processing. I enjoyed learning about and contributing to each aspect of the entire process.

Registration day was filled with beautiful souls and families anxious for help. The extended Cydcor and field team had fun connecting with families, playing with the children, and attempting to put the families at ease. With stickers, jump ropes, and balls everywhere, the children were in good spirits. The poverty of some was difficult to comprehend; while some children arrived in their Sunday best, others clearly had not bathed for some time. For example, I heard one young mother had a headache on surgery day so she went around asking for change to purchase some medicine. She asked the nurses if she could change the hospital beds to earn money for aspirin, and when the nurse offered her several aspirin free of charge, the young mother burst into happy tears at the gift.

On one of the days, I spent several hours playing with a group of toddlers – Gladys, Genesis, and William – in the Child Life area where we helped calm the children and parents before surgery. The children warmed up to me quickly, and after their surgeries I was fortunate to be in the recovery room ready to comfort the children, who often wake up scared. Gladys was the first one back from surgery. As she woke up, the doctor was holding her as she asked for her mom. When she saw me there, she reached out her arms for me and the doctor let me step in to receive her sweet hug. I talked to her and comforted her until she was stable enough for her mom to come in. Nothing warms the heart like a child’s embrace.

Next to return from surgery was Genesis. The nurses let me hold and rock Genesis for some time, and as long as I was singing and rocking her, she was calm. I felt honored that she recognized my voice enough to be calmed by it until it was time to hand her over to her mother. Genesis’s mom was so happy to see me with her daughter and so thankful for the work of the doctors and nurses of Operation Smile. She thanked everyone profusely as she held Genesis and left recovery for post-op. I am so grateful to have met these wonderful families and, in some small way, make a difference. The children will forget the surgery and everything they went through, but I will always remember them.

Given the chance to observe several surgeries, I found myself fascinated with the process as the surgeons worked their magic and changed these children’s lives forever. The Cydcor team helped wherever needed, from decorating and updating patient files to making connections like the ones I made. The professionalism and passion of all the volunteers and Operation Smile teams impressed me. As I spoke with the Cydcor team at the end of our journey, we all shared an even deeper passion for the cause and vowed to increase our efforts to raise money for this wonderful organization.

For additional information about Cydcor’s partnership with Operation Smile, head over to http://www.operationsmile.org/cydcor.