Boston University Spring 2011

Like Holy Cross, BU has been going through a major officer transition. Since everyone but the Fundraising Chair is graduating. We ended the fall semester with an election to choose a new group of officers. This new board has been working in conjunction with the current board to learn the ropes. Since it's often difficult to include the whole club, OSBU adopted a new committee system. Each of the officers is assigned to either Fundraising, PR, or Community Service. Each committee meets in small groups and then works with the others to make the idea happen. For example, Fundraising Committee would come up with an idea for a bake sale and then work with PR to develop strategies to promote it. This system has worked very well, but since we are admittedly struggling with dwindling club participation we've put this system on the back burner.

Since we've been struggling to get people to come to meetings and stay involved, we've been working on a PR Blitz where we created an Operation Smile BU Website, revitalized our facebook group, created a twitter (with limited success), and worked to make our e-mails more to the point. We also created t-shirts. They are simple "I <3 Op :)" T-shirts that can easily be marketed to other clubs. These orders have been facilitated by our website order form. Check them out and let us know if your club is interested! Shirts are only $10 + shipping.  So far the shirts have raised about $200.

We've had two Bake Sales this semester which have raised a modest $100. While they have not been huge events, they reflect BU's current ability. We are working with what resources we have to mobilize what volunteers we have, so overall these have been successful events. Our most recent Bake Sale took on a new marketing strategy strategy to fight off the ever present challenge of collegiate apathy. Sometimes being a charity in a college setting doesn't get the attention it deserves. In order to ramp up awareness, BU Op Smile playfully put the Baked Sale on 4/20, a big pop culture "holiday." While the event was kept entirely legal and P.G., the event proved that working with your audience  pays off. BU Operation Smile friends and supporters at the University of New Mexico adopted the same idea, showing that this was a fun and easy way to raise awarenes and money that can easily be adapted anywhere.

BU has also been working to drum up community service. With a new Community Service Chair, we have been able to get involved with a Children's Book Drive. This month we will also work as a team to help clean up a local park. This will stimulate team bonding and let us spread awareness while making an impact in our neighborhood. Both of these opportunities were through contacts with the BU Community service club. Check out what clubs you can work with at your school!

BU sent two students, next year's president James Reid and vice president Shannon Kiang, to help Fordham University and OS staff with the Junior Smile Collection Event in NYC. While this meant a little out of pocket expense for the travelers, the two had an amazing oppirtunity to be involved in one of Student Program's biggest events. This was also a great chance for BU officers to observe and connect with Fordham's amazing club. It is incredibly important to communicate between clubs. Since BU has already worked with Fordham on a benefit dinner and auction fall semester with Lexington High, the Junior Smile Event was just another way of solidifying our already strong relationship. Fordham proved to be an inspiring example of how a club can become incredibly strong in just a very short period of time.

Over spring break 2011, Operation Smile BU exhibited it's ability to directly effect the lives of others around the world. James Reid was chosen to pilot a type of college mission with Operation Smile University Program's new "U-Lead" initiative. With the help and support of BU's club, Jennifer Mings (University of Arizona), Danielle Rivera (St. Edward's University) and Megan Lloyd (University of New Mexico), James spent three months planing and eventually leading a three day student leadership conference for about 50 participants in Panama City, Panama over spring break. These university students worked together to create and arrange every detail of the conference from scratch on the other side of the hemisphere. Team Panama did  everything from composing student manuals to designing t-shirts, from arranging guest speakers to planning schedules and service projects with the support of their college clubs.  The conference focused on "Creating Waves of Change" and giving students the skills to inspire others in a ripple effect. The U-Lead conference taught Panamanian student volunteers about the organization, leadership skills, and the educational modals to teach to children on in-country medical missions. Students were given the ability to teach the impoverished people of Panama about nutrition and dental hygiene and even had a chance to practice their skills in a hospital. While many children are waiting to receive surgeries on medical missions, Operation Smile student volunteers play an important role by teaching basic health information to families. The conference was designed to empower Panamanian student leaders to get involved int he education of their own people. At end of the conference students exhibited their dedication to service, education, awareness and leadership as they spoke to children and mothers in one of the biggest children's hospitals in the city.

About 50 students from a broad range of Panamanian society attended the conference. Dedicated local leaders like Roberto Zuniga, Ana Isabel Correa, Maria Fernanda Roa helped make the conference a success by inspiring their peers with their passion and experience. Students from the American Balboa High School like club founder and president Conrad Frey left motivated and eager to spread involvement. Students from the Panamerican School like Arantxa Ceja and Juan Diego Vasquez left excited to see what they could to to help the upcoming medical missions in Panama and start new clubs. Overall the event was a huge success, paving the way for future international mission opportunities for American university students. This event also spoke to the dedication and coordination of Operation Smile BU, which played a key part in developing and implementing a pilot program with almost no direct involvement from the international organization.

For more information of the U-Lead Mission experience, check out the U-Lead Panama 2011 Blog.

Fordham University: Junior Smile Collection Event

Hi!
My name is James Reid. I am a sophomore at Boston University and an avid supporter of Operation Smile. I am currently a member of Operation Smile’s College Council. It’s my role to grow and support university involvement at a local, regional, and international level. Less than two years ago, I learned that Eliza Boggia, now founder and president of Operation Smile at Fordham University, was interested in starting an Operation Smile club. Currently a senior, she saw this as an opportunity to leave a mark on her a school, a chance to make a positive impact both locally and internationally. I did what I could to offer advice on how to start a club, but in the end it came down to Eliza’s passion and dedication to a cause she loved. In about a year and a half, Eliza has mobilized an amazing group of students into forming an extremely impressive college club. All too often, students are stricken with collegiate apathy. Students who are involved in high school quickly lose focus and stop caring about helping others, so forming a successful club at a university level is no small feat.

For two years Fordham University’s club has been involved with two of Operation Smile’s biggest fundraising events, the Junior Smile Event and the Senior Smile event. The Junior Smile Collection Event is a formal benefit dinner, auction, and fashion show organized by high school volunteers who are on a selective committee. These are massive collection events that draw out some of New York’s most generous supporters. Both events raise literally hundreds of thousands of dollars for Operation Smile. When you think about how a surgery only costs $240, that’s a big deal! Fordham University has played a key role in making these events a success. This year Fordham’s club extended a generous offer to my club. Since many student volunteers in the area are vying to be involved in these glamorous events, it was honored when Fordham asked if two of our club members wanted to be involved.

OS at BU Vice President Shannon Kiang and I took a long weekend and headed down to New York to help with the Junior Smile Collection Event. Luckily I arrived on Thursday to be a part of Fordham University’s general club meeting. From the moment I walked in the door, I was blown away by the number of students eager to be involved. I know from personal experience that most clubs have a difficult time getting people to attend meetings and volunteer to take on responsibility, but not at Fordham! Students were circled around raising their hands, willing and able to do what they could to help the organization. While Eliza Boggia is undoubtedly a natural leader that has pushed this club into being an incredibly strong club, it was immediately evident that this club was full of many dedicated and passionate students that will only make the club even better over time.

The next day Fordham University took charge of a massive event. The Junior Smile Collection event took place at an amazing venue called Espace in Midtown Manhattan. It was an incredibly classy event filled with generous and glamorous students and adults. A reception, silent auction, dinner, live runway show, desert and dancing also featured a preformance by chart topping recording artist and producer, Jeremih. Somehow Fordham University went from helping the event to running the event in only a year’s time. While organizational committee and Operation Smile staff members had undertaken a huge effort to prepare for the event, the big day clearly rested on the able shoulders of Eliza Boggia and her team of leaders. The club was in charge of stuffing 450 gift bags with dozens of items in an incredibly limited amount of time. They set up and maintained the silent auction and check-in. They collected donation cards. Most importantly Fordham University students undertook the huge responsibility of fitting, organizing, and running the fashion show. They were in change thousands of dollars of clothing that was on loan while trying to make sure the runway walks went off without a hitch.

 

Despite the fact that Fordham University’s heroic efforts during the event went largely without thanks, it was absolutely clear that the event could not have gone without them. Fordham University club members should be incredibly proud of their involvement, and I hope their actions inspire others to get involved. Although my personal involvement was relatively small, I left extremely proud that I had been involved in such an amazing event. I truly felt like my small effort made a difference in the world.


James Reid
President
Operation Smile at Boston University
College Council
Operation Smile International
jamesonreid@gmail.com

Fordham University Spring 2011

This semester Fordham University has been involved with three major events. One is on Fordham's campus and two are with the larger Operation Smile Community. At Fordham we will be hosting our 2nd Songs For Smiles Event, which is a night of live performances, free food, prizes and apparel for sale all to raise funds and awareness for Operation Smile.


They also volunteered at the Junior Smile Event April 15th, where a team of Fordham club members will run the fashion show and assist with the silent auction. Fordham undertook an incredible amount of responsibility at this major event which usually raises upwards of $200,000k. A more detailed account of their work can be read on their blog, Fordham Smiles.

Lastly, the Operation Smile Club at Fordham will be volunteering at the Senior
Smile Event which is held at the Cipriani Wall Street on May 5th. They will again play a major role in setting up and running the event.

College of Holy Cross Spring 2011

Holy Cross is currently undergoing an officer transition since most of the officers are graduating.  The Co-Chair for next year will be Michele Ribaudo.  Michele is a rising senior who has been volunteering with us since she was a freshman.  This summer she will be interning in NYC with one of Operation Smile's key sponsors to put on one of our more extensive charity events.  She is eager to become more familiar with the organization beyond the HC campus and will soon be serving as a key point of contact for the club.

This year we had our third annual Miles For Smiles, a 5k run in Worcester, MA.  Holy Cross extended the run not only to our students and faculty but also to the local community.  In addition we sold Holy Cross Vineyard Vines Hats since the company has sponsored Op Smile for the past several years.  They were kind enough to give us a decent discount and we were able to turn about a $300 profit--more or less the price for a cleft surgery.

Fairfield University Spring 2011

At the end of last semester, we finished our campaign “Capturing Smiles Around the World”, in which we sold beautiful posters and photographs taken by Kekoa Taparra. The fundraiser was a great success and we ended up raising $140! We were very pleased by these results, and so were the people who ordered the posters!

Just a few weeks ago, we ran a campaign called “Stag’s for Smiles”. (Stags because our mascot is the Fairfield University Stag) It was a very simple campaign and its primary purpose was to raise awareness around campus. Throughout the day, a group of club members were stationed in our campus center and offered to “stamp” peoples hands with smiley faces as they walked by. When we explained the Operation Smile Organization, we also asked if they would be interested in making a donation. People were very generous and we ended up raising $150! We plan on doing this again before the end of the year because it was easy, cheap and successful!

Last week we held a bake sale in our campus center, which was also very successful. We sold cookies, cupcakes and brownies and were also pleased to take any donations. In the end, we raised $320 -I guess our students love their sweets!

This spring, Fairfield University’s Operation Smile chapter will be holding a raffle fundraiser to raise awareness for the cause in the Fairfield community. We asked group members to go around to local shops in Fairfield or in their hometown to try and get donations for the raffle (either monetary donations, gift baskets, gift cards). For any businesses that did give us a donation, we provided them with a flyer to put in their store window. We were able to get a few donations from local businesses and we plan on launching the fundraiser before Easter Break. Each member is in charge of selling at least 20 tickets, but we plan on selling much more. I will have the results for this fundraiser before the end of the month.