A cleft lip is an opening in the lip. A cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth. About one in 700 infants is born with a cleft lip and/or palate because parts of the face and mouth failed to come together properly in the early months of fetal life. Due to genetic traits, poor medical care, and lack of treatment, children with cleft lip and palate deformities, along with their families, are ostracized with no chance for a productive future.

On Friday, October 28th, Austin Smiles will hold its fundraiser “Wish Upon a Smile” featuring Seth Walker at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden from 6:00pm - 10:00 pm. Austin Smiles, The Austin Plastic Surgery Foundation provides reconstructive plastic surgery (primarily cleft lip and palate repair), to the children of Austin and the ten-county area surrounding Austin as well as in Latin America.

The physicians of Austin Smiles perform 50-75 surgeries annually at Dell Children's Hospital of Austin, and Austin Smiles also travels to Latin America on several medical mission trips a year. Since it was founded in 1987, Austin Smiles has completed over 4,500 corrective surgeries to children and those needing assistance.

The corrective surgery provided by the Austin Smiles team of surgeons allows restoration of functions such as more normal speech, hearing, eating, and better breathing for affected children. The family's ability to pay does not influence the quality or availability of care received from the Austin Smiles surgeons.

Notably, 85% of the funds raised by Austin Smiles are used to provide medical services that support the mission, and only 15% of the funds are used for administrative or fundraising purposes.

To accomplish its mission, Austin Smiles has three facets to its agency:

• Regional - serving children in the 10 county area served by the Dell Children's Medical Center.
• International - performing 3 to 4 one-week medical missions to various locations in Latin America.
• Educational - allowing graduate students in speech-language pathology to join Austin Smiles on their medical missions.

Austin Smiles is an incredible organization that I personally have had the good fortune to participate in on medical mission trips to Veracruz, Mexico, and San Salvador, El Salvador on several occasions. The surgical procedures that are given to these babies and children to restore a more normal appearance and functional abilities so that they can grow up and live in their culture without shame is the best gift one could give. So please take a look and think about giving back to those who are much less fortunate through this great, Austin, Texas-based cause.