Smile Train
As we plan family gathering to celebrate the coming holiday season, our plans often include time for the traditional gift exchange with loved ones. To be sure, for the children, this holiday attribute is deeply anticipated and exciting. It truly provides as much joy to the giver as it does to children receiving the gifts. But in many families, long after the children have grown, the gift exchange continues to be a part of holiday festivities. And, for many of us, this holiday tradition has become apractice more than a passion. Gift giving has become a chore. We spend countless hours shopping and preparing our gifts, wearing ourselves out in pusuit of just the right article for a person, much like us, who wants for very little. When the giving is done and the gifts revealed, if you are like me, the event is less than satisfying knowing giving your gift, in the end, makes little difference in the larger scheme of things in the recipient's life.
True giving, it seems to me, whether during the holdiay season or otherwise, is sustained by the knowledge that the gift given enhances the recipient's life in a fundemental way. Giving a gift that truly helps someone in need is a gift that gives as much to the giver as it does to the receiver. It satisfies both parties of the exchange and in the end, makes the world a little better place for all of us. This is the kind of gift we can give by donating to The Smile Train in a loved one's name this holiday season. Smile Train provides free cleft surgeries to children world wide. Many children with cleft pallet deformity, left untreated, find it difficult to eat and speak. As they grow they are isolated and shunned by society, prohibited from attending school or holding a job. For a mere $250 gift to Smile Train, you can pay for a child's surgery and truly enhance their life. The bonus of course, is your gift exchange will be satisfying not only to the recipient, but to you as well.
The world is needy and we can help. Make your giving meaningful this year by visitingwww.smiletrain.org.
