Saturday, August 13, 2011
ISCE: The Great Wall of China
Friday, August 12, 2011
Operation Smile: FASHION
Now is the time to rock some Operation Smile fashion! Believe it or not, it is possible to support Operation Smile through fashion! We would like to promote two clothing lines to our blog readers. Each of these designers sell items where 50% of proceeds made go to Operation Smile. Not only are these clothes extremely trendy and fashionable, but purchasing them also helps save the lives of hundreds of children with cleft lip and cleft palate facial deformities. Be sure to check out their websites!
Verana Summers was created by my (Arielle's) two friends, Julian Kahlon and Nick Hakimi, in order to support a modern style that takes all life styles into consideration. Their clothing line is special because it incorporates pieces that express the fashion of the 60s and 70s surf and music era, but can be worn anywhere and at any time. This spring, Verana Summers guaranteed their customers that 50% of the proceeds made from one of their tank tops will go to Operation Smile. Each tank top says: "KEEP SMILING... Helping children with cleft conditions everywhere. More than 200,000 children are born with a severe cleft condition each year. Verana Summers and Operation Smile will make a difference." Visit their website at V E R A N A S U M M E R S to buy one of these hot tank tops for yourself!
The KEEP SMILING tanktop:
Verana Summers was created by my (Arielle's) two friends, Julian Kahlon and Nick Hakimi, in order to support a modern style that takes all life styles into consideration. Their clothing line is special because it incorporates pieces that express the fashion of the 60s and 70s surf and music era, but can be worn anywhere and at any time. This spring, Verana Summers guaranteed their customers that 50% of the proceeds made from one of their tank tops will go to Operation Smile. Each tank top says: "KEEP SMILING... Helping children with cleft conditions everywhere. More than 200,000 children are born with a severe cleft condition each year. Verana Summers and Operation Smile will make a difference." Visit their website at V E R A N A S U M M E R S to buy one of these hot tank tops for yourself!
The KEEP SMILING tanktop:
Wolfgang Ballinger modeled the tank top at the 2011 Jr. Smile Collection Event in NYC:
And here, Keenan Lam dances with his friends while showing off the tank top:
Chloe Kimiabakhsh and Arielle support Operation Smile & Verana by wearing the tank to school:
Poseidon Apparel, a clothing company created by Alexander Bischoff, is dedicated to offering fashionable clothing to humanitarian-minded people aspiring to make a difference in the world. Bischoff was inspired to start the clothing line after embarking on an Operation Smile medical mission to Guwahati, India and seeing how cleft lip and cleft palate deformities can cause children to become outcasts in their societies. 50% of every purchase from Poseidon Apparel is donated to Operation Smile. These donations are then used towards life-changing cleft lip and palate surgeries. Check out the Poseidon Apparel's website at Poseidon Apparel!
Some of Alexander's amazing designs:
We hope you look into these designers' websites and buy their clothing to support Operation Smile!
With love,
Arielle Sasson and Alexandra Spiegel
Tips on Starting a New Club
After an inspirational ISCE, many people are thinking of starting their own clubs. Here are some tips on starting a club at your school from Arielle. She is very knowledgeable, for she started TWO clubs in her area. Here they are:
1) You need to verify with your principal or school board that you can start an Operation Smile club at your school.
2) You also need to designate an advisor/sponsor- a faculty member who will make sure all the events and activities that your club carries out will work out successfully and abide by your school's rules.
3) You definitely need a group of officers as well- I suggest nominating students from different grades so that when you leave high school, some of those experienced officers will be able to take over with ease.
4) Make sure to fill out and send in the Registration and Contact Verification Forms to Operation Smile so they can keep you updated of future events.
5) Spread the word to fellow students at your club or activities fair at your school- try to have a table and bring pictures/posters of the patients, tell them that a surgery is only $240 and takes 45 min.
6) Keep people interested and involved by starting a group on Facebook, emailing any club updates to all your new members, and constantly making announcements on the loudspeaker.
Let us both know if you have questions. We hope your Operation Smile club will start making a change immediately, but we know that it may take time. If you are starting to get discouraged check out http://www.operationsmile.org/oscentral/ . This useful tool is OS Central, full of great advice for everything. From fundraisers to information about other events, this is a great tool for everybody to use.
With Love,
Alexandra and Arielle
1) You need to verify with your principal or school board that you can start an Operation Smile club at your school.
2) You also need to designate an advisor/sponsor- a faculty member who will make sure all the events and activities that your club carries out will work out successfully and abide by your school's rules.
3) You definitely need a group of officers as well- I suggest nominating students from different grades so that when you leave high school, some of those experienced officers will be able to take over with ease.
4) Make sure to fill out and send in the Registration and Contact Verification Forms to Operation Smile so they can keep you updated of future events.
5) Spread the word to fellow students at your club or activities fair at your school- try to have a table and bring pictures/posters of the patients, tell them that a surgery is only $240 and takes 45 min.
6) Keep people interested and involved by starting a group on Facebook, emailing any club updates to all your new members, and constantly making announcements on the loudspeaker.
Let us both know if you have questions. We hope your Operation Smile club will start making a change immediately, but we know that it may take time. If you are starting to get discouraged check out http://www.operationsmile.org/oscentral/ . This useful tool is OS Central, full of great advice for everything. From fundraisers to information about other events, this is a great tool for everybody to use.
With Love,
Alexandra and Arielle
The Blog is Back
We are glad to have our blog back up. Our mission was almost a year ago, and we both miss it so much. Fortunately, we both were reunited at Operation Smile's International Student Cultural Exchange or ISCE. Along with friends from over 23 other countries, we were able to learn about other cultures, and ultimately ourselves. This was a great experience for us both. We were able to meet new friends, and solidify relationships we had already made. Of course, we also were able to see each other. We always talk about the fact that neither one of us knew each other before our mission. Alexandra had met our sponsor, Jen, briefly in Denver, while Arielle knew neither one of them. It is so great that the three of us were able to mesh the way we did. We had an awesome experience, which would not have been complete without the camaraderie from the student team and our whole mission team. We will be posting fun updates about our clubs, our regions, or just Operation Smile in general. Here is a quick club update: Alexandra is hoping to bring new ideas to her current club, while Arielle will be joining the club at Barnard, and hoping to make it a very successful. We would be happy to answer any questions you have, so if you have any, please comment on this blog. We hope you have missed reading our blog, like we have missed writing it.
With Love,
Alexandra and Arielle
With Love,
Alexandra and Arielle
2011 Evening of Smiles Event
Show your support for Operation Smile by buying tickets to the 2011 Evening of Smiles Event! This is the third year that teens and adults from the NYC and Hamptons area are hosting this event to raise funds and awareness for the children of Operation Smile. The event includes a premiere cocktail event and specialty live auction; Ryan Slolnick will be djing and IYAZ will be singing!! The price of 1 adult ticket to the event is $240- the cost to repair one child's cleft lip or cleft palate deformity. The event will be held on Saturday, August 20, 2011 from 7 PM to 10 PM at the Axe Lounge at Dune. More details and the link to purchase tickets can be found here: 2011 Evening of Smiles Event.
My good friend, Danielle Winick chairs the event, and it always turns out to be amazing. I (Arielle) went to the event last year and was blown away because Shwayze performed for us! Everyone should go if they have the chance... BE THE CHANGE!
My good friend, Danielle Winick chairs the event, and it always turns out to be amazing. I (Arielle) went to the event last year and was blown away because Shwayze performed for us! Everyone should go if they have the chance... BE THE CHANGE!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Newspaper Articles
Throughout our mission we were joined by reporters from all over. Here are two of the articles from "El Sol de Tlaxcala", that are about our mission.
Check Them Out
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