Global Smile Foundation

Global Smile Foundation (GSF) is a non-profit foundation that provides pro-bono, multidisciplinary, long-term cleft care for underserved children and adults in Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. Cleft lip and palate are two of the most common birth defects in the world. Typically, cleft care and support are provided to children and their families at birth. The families we serve do not have access to the highly specialized care that these deformities require, nor can they handle the financial burden of $10,000-25,000 for each of these procedures, as they are in the poorest of socioeconomic groups. Most cleft patients are stigmatized and ostracized because of their appearances. However, after their corrective procedures, the children we help will be able to grow up and live normal lives. The adults will have the instantaneous and incredibly powerful gratification of seeing a completely different person staring back at them in the mirror. Witnessing these scenes of relief and gratitude, and the patients’ ability to rejoin society are what drive our volunteer team of highly specialized experts to provide these pro-bono services. In a typical mission, we perform between 45-70 procedures, delivering around $1.5 million in free medical services. Unique to GSF, we make every effort to return to the same sites, year after year, to deliver continuity of care and ongoing treatment to our patients, always free of charge.