By Richard Kaufman
Sentinel Reporter
There was an outpouring of love and smiles back on Nov. 11 at the Belle Haven Club in Greenwich as over 250 people gathered for the 2017 Smile Greenwich event.
A total of $181,000 was raised, which surpassed last year’s total. The funds will go towards Operation Smile, the international medical charity that provides hundreds of thousands of free surgeries for children and young adults in developing countries who are born with cleft lip, cleft palate or other facial deformities.
The night featured entertainment from recording artist, Jordin Sparks, and both silent and live auctions.
Lisa Lori, who started the first Greenwich-area fundraising event for the charity in her backyard in 2010, holds Operation Smile close to her heart.
Her three sons — Zack, Luke and Griffin — were all born with a rare form of facial paralysis, and all received muscle transplant surgeries from surgeon Dr. Ronald Zuker in Toronto, Canada.
Wanting to say thank you to the doctor who had immensely helped them, Lori decided to throw a party at her house with about 65 people. Since then, she has helped raise more than $2 million through events, corporate partnerships and The Three Little Bears Program, which Lori created with her friend Kathy Van Zeeland in 2011.
In conjunction with Operation Smile, people can purchase stuffed teddy bears for $240, the cost of a facial surgery. A child will be given a free surgery and a bear, and the donor can receive a bear, too.
“They are now sort of universally used within the organization,” Lori said.
Lori said the most powerful moment at the Smile Greenwich event was when they held a bear auction. People could actually see for a certain amount of money how many children will get surgery and a smile.
Lori raises funds through her business as well. She’s the owner of Perfect Provenance, located at 47 Arch St., which features high-end women’s and men’s fashion, gifts, art, home goods and a cafe.
The Smile Collection, she calls it, holds items such as special made t-shirts, candles, tote bags and makeup bags which all benefit Operation Smile.
However, starting all of this was difficult for Lori and her family, she admits.
“It was very much a family decision because we as a family had to decide to tell our story, and that was a difficult decision initially because you try to protect your children and your family,” she said. “You don’t want to expose them too much, but it was really wonderful for all of us because what happened was we took this thing that was incredibly difficult for us and especially for [my kids] and turned it into a positive.”
Lori said that it’s extra special for her family because her children are older now and can realize and understand the impact they can have.
“It’s really paying it forward,” she said.
Lori said she sees herself in the families Operation Smile helps, even if they’re in under-developed countries across the globe.
“Even though I’m standing here in Greenwich, I’m just like those families,” she said. “Even though our family had a different condition, it’s similar in the fact of all the feelings we had because we looked for a long time to find someone who could help us because we have an extremely rare medical challenge.”
Lori said that not everyone has had experience with a facial anomaly, or a cleft lip or cleft palate, so Operation Smile and its cause aren’t universally understood. But by holding fundraising events like Smile Greenwich and raising money, more and more people can help.
“We had an incredible crowd of people,” Lori said. “It was just an amazing night full of a lot of love and smiles. It really was wonderful.”
