I vividly remember the first time Henry smiled at me. Like really smiled. It was early in the morning, like 6 or 7 a.m. Henry was just a few weeks old in his bouncer, and I was pumping. Life was rough during this time. Henry's colic and digestive issues were in full swing, he spent most of his days screaming bloody murder, and woke every hour all night. I was at my breaking point.
But then it all changed while I'm just pumping away. I look down to Henry in his bouncer and all of a sudden, his eyes meet mine. Then it happened, the best smile I have ever seen flashes. And, I melted into a puddle of baby-loving-goo, and every second of screaming was all worth it.
For millions of parents around the world, they may never get the chance to experience that perfectly beautiful baby smile. Every three minutes a child in the world is born with a cleft lip. That's two children in the time I've written this far in this post.
Cleft lips can make it difficult, or impossible, for a child to eat, drink, speak, and in many cases - smile. Parents of these children often cannot afford to get the surgeries these children need to live a normal life. As a result, these children are shunned and rejected from their communities.
This is where Operation Smile comes in! Operation Smile is a non-profit that provides free surgeries for children with cleft lips, palates, and other facial deformities. Since its inception in 1982, Operation Smile has performed over 200,000 FREE cleft correcting surgeries all around the world.
 |
| I cannot imagine life without this face. |
Want to know how to help Operation Smile give a smile to a baby, to a family...to the world? Well, one great way is through CampusBookRentals. CampusBookRentals is an online textbook renting website, partnered with Operation Smile.
Now almost as vividly as I remember Henry's first smile, I remember my bills at my law school bookstore. Not good. I wish I had known about CampusBookRentals while I was in law school, I would have loved to save 40-90 percent off each of my textbooks -- look at the savings on my Secured Transactions Book, makes me sick to think of all the money I wasted.
Plus, with every rental a portion of the fee is donated to Operation Smile. Its a total win-win. A kid gets a shot at a normal, happy, smiling life, and you get a cheap textbook!
Oh, and that's two more children. Please consider donating.
This is a sponsored paid post but any opinions are my own.
