This Holiday Season, Operation Smile Introduces New Ways to Give Meaningful Gifts

What is the true meaning of the holidays? Operation Smile believes it is the joy of giving. For children born with facial deformities living in the poorest regions of the world, the greatest gift you can give is a new smile. This holiday season, Operation Smile is asking for your help to bring the magic of the holidays to children waiting for a chance to smile for the first time. When deciding what to include on your gift list, browse Operation Smile’s holiday collection of meaningful gifts to help change the life of a child in need.

Operation Smile’s NEW Facebook Giving Catalog: www.operationsmile.org/fbcatalog
This year, Operation Smile launched its new Facebook Giving Catalog featuring a holiday collection of gifts that will help support Operation Smile. The new Facebook Catalog allows supporters to avoid the crowds and do their holiday shopping on their favorite social networking site. The life-changing gifts start at just $10 and include bubble-gum scented anesthesia masks, hospital gowns, special baby bottles, warm blankets, and so much more. You can even set up a special holiday wish list for your friends and family to purchase a gift in your honor. Plus, you can send a special holiday greeting card to all your friends on Facebook

Online Holiday Giving Catalog: www.operationsmile.org/gifts
Operation Smile’s online Holiday Giving Catalog offers life-changing gifts starting at just $25. A supporter can help prepare kids for surgery, stock an operating room, or provide medicine and supplies. For all gifts over $50, you also receive a special eco-friendly tote bag. Purchase a $240 surgery, and you’ll receive a beautiful silk scarf from India. Additional gift items include hospital outfits, warm blankets, antibiotics and pain medication, as well as the gift of a surgery in a specific area of the world such as Latin America, Asia or Africa. With every Holiday Giving Catalog order, you’ll receive a personalized card describing the gift given in their name

Holiday Cards through Tiny Prints: www.operationsmile.org/cards
This season, shop Tiny Prints holiday cards through Operation Smile’s Web site. Choose from hundreds of cards and products like invitations, calendars, photo books and note cards. TinyPrints will donate 13% of gross sales to Operation Smile. All orders of $49 or more will receive 10% off – just use the code SMILE10. Order your personalized holiday cards from TinyPrints to help transform a child’s life.

"Zachary, Luke and Griffin" Teddy Bears: www.operationsmile.org/bears
These exclusive teddy bears can be found only on Operation Smile’s Facebook Giving Catalog and Operation Smile’s Web site. Those who donate $240 to help provide a surgery will receive one of the bears for their own. They also will be donating a bear to be sent on an Operation Smile medical mission and given to a child with a cleft. These special bears are named after three brothers who were all born with facial paralysis. After enduring years of surgeries to give her own children their smiles, their mother partnered with her childhood friend to design the teddy bears. Teddy bears are known to be a symbol of comfort and love to children.

Every three minutes, a child is born with a cleft. One in 10 of those children will die before their first birthday. With the generous help of volunteers and supporters, Operation Smile has provided more than 200,000 free reconstructive surgeries for children worldwide. Your gift this holiday season can help us reach more children.

For more information on Operation Smile’s global efforts, visit www.operationsmile.org, follow @operationsmile on Twitter, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/operationsmile.

About Operation Smile (www.operationsmile.org)
Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is an international children’s medical charity with programs and Foundations in more than 60 countries, whose network of more than 5,000 medical volunteers from 76 countries is dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children and young adults. Since its founding in 1982, Operation Smile has provided more than 2 million patient evaluations and conducted over 200,000 free surgeries for children and young adults born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities. To lay the groundwork for long-term self-sufficiency in developing countries, Operation Smile donates medical equipment and trains local medical professionals in its partner countries so they are empowered to treat their own local communities.