Operation Smile is proud to announce it is breaking ground for its new global headquarters in Virginia Beach in the Princess Anne Commons area, in the heart of the community’s center for higher learning. The new headquarters – scheduled to be completed by early 2012 – will showcase the world’s knowledge of cleft care and Operation Smile’s medical missions, while hosting visiting dignitaries, medical professionals and students from around the globe. Operation Smile works in 60 countries worldwide to provide quality surgical care and give new smiles to children with facial deformities.
Special guests at the groundbreaking ceremony include Donald Trump, Jr., Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and First Lady Maureen McDonnell, Virginia Beach Mayor William D. Sessoms, Jr., Chesapeake Mayor Dr. Alan P. Krasnoff, an Operation Smile World Care patient from India who is traveling to the U.S. for reconstructive surgery, a former World Care patient from Iraq, and the Minister of Health and Family Welfare for the Government of Assam in India.
EVENTS AND STORY ANGLES:
Private Reception at the Governor’s Executive Mansion: September 28 at 6:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, September 28, Governor McDonnell and First Lady Maureen McDonnell are hosting a private reception for Operation Smile at the Executive Mansion in Richmond to celebrate the groundbreaking. The Governor will address the new headquarters, his history with Operation Smile and what it means for an internationally-focused humanitarian organization to be headquartered in Virginia.
This event is not open to the public, but media are welcome.
Groundbreaking Ceremony in Virginia Beach: September 29 at 9:30 a.m.
On Wednesday, September 29, Operation Smile is hosting a groundbreaking ceremony at the new Virginia Beach site. Donald Trump, Jr. who serves on Operation Smile’s Board of Directors and Governor McDonnell will serve as the keynote speakers, and Mayor Sessoms will address the audience as well. Former Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, Virginia Delegate Ronald A. Villanueva, and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Operation Smile William R. Fox will be at the groundbreaking to be recognized for their efforts in helping Operation Smile and its mission.
For directions and parking information for media, please contact Jessica Kraft, Operation Smile’s Director of Public Relations. Honored guests include:
- Eight-year-old Nur Mahamad is traveling from India as an Operation Smile World Care patient. Nur will require a number of surgeries to correct his severe facial deformity. In partnership with the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, Operation Smile’s Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Bill Magee will perform the free surgeries.
- Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister of Health and Family Welfare for the Government of Assam in India, and Dr. Parthajyoti Gogoi, Regional Director for the Department of Health and Family Welfare for the Government of India. In India, the Government of Assam and the Tata Group have created a public-private partnership with Operation Smile to address the overwhelming need for cleft care and help treat over 30,000 children in the State of Assam.
- A former World Care patient, Eman Hashim, who was born in Iraq and suffered from hypertelorism, a widening of the eyes. Her deformed nose and mouth did not allow her to smell or eat normally. Her deformity was so severe that when Eman was seven years old, her teacher in Iraq told her family she could not attend school because she scared the other children. After several surgeries at CHKD, this once isolated, shy girl now has a bright future.
- The Chorale Group from Norfolk Academy, home of Operation Smile’s first student organization, will perform.
Operation Smile’s Global Standards of Care Summit: September 27-30
More than 70 of Operation Smile’s medical leaders from around the world are again gathering in Norfolk, Virginia as part of their periodic evaluation of Operation Smile’s Global Standards of Care, which implement the best evidence-based practices in the organization’s approach to patient care.
“Operation Smile has been privileged to call the Hampton Roads community our home for 28 years,” Dr. Bill Magee, Co-founder and CEO of Operation Smile. “Our generous supporters in Hampton Roads have shown an incredible commitment and dedication to help us change the lives for so many children worldwide. With our world headquarters in Virginia Beach, our vision for Operation Smile’s future is now becoming a reality.”
In 2007, in demonstration of its support and trust, the city of Virginia Beach announced it was donating the 9.37 acres of land where the new headquarters is now being built. An anonymous donor contributed $10 million for construction costs for the new building. The new building was designed by Hourigan Construction and Clark Nexsen, who will jointly oversee the construction. With the increased capacity, Operation Smile can grow its international reach and education programs, making it the world’s premier resource for advanced cleft care; maternal, child and newborn healthcare; nutrition; research; as well as education, training and intervention. In its new location, Operation Smile will benefit from the proximity and access to other healthcare entities, many with whom it already partners.
Highlighting the depth and breadth of the organization, the new building will showcase how Operation Smile has evolved in its nearly 30-year history, its beginnings, its patients and medical missions, and its future goals. Visitors can immerse themselves in a variety of global environments and explore the lives of actual Operation Smile patients. Approximately 8,000 square feet will be dedicated to public space designed to create a sensory experience. The story of a child with a cleft will dynamically unfold, as the visitor moves with a child from hopelessness to a life with dignity.
Recently, Operation Smile announced an incredible milestone: the organization has given 150,000 smiles to children and young adults around the world who previously suffered from a debilitating cleft. Yet, the need is still urgent. Every 3 minutes, it is estimated that a child is born with a cleft condition. One in 10 children born with a cleft will die before their first birthday. Operation Smile is dedicated to raising awareness of this life-threatening issue and providing lasting solutions that allow children to be healed, regardless of financial standing, well into the future.
For updates on Operation Smile’s global efforts, visit the daily blogs on
www.operationsmile.org, follow
@operationsmile on Twitter, and on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/operationsmile.
About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Founded in 1982 by Dr. Bill and Kathy Magee, Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is a worldwide children’s medical charity whose network of global volunteers are dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults. Since its founding, Operation Smile has treated more than 150,000 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities and the organization has a presence in 60 countries. In addition to contributing free medical treatment, Operation Smile trains local medical professionals in its partner countries and leaves behind crucial equipment to lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency.
