Cydcor And Its Support of Operation Smile
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 7th 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 http://www.cydcor.com