VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (PRWEB)
April 26, 2023

April is National Volunteer Month, a perfect time to recognize the outstanding contributions volunteers make to nonprofits and celebrate their dedication to worthy causes. Global surgical nonprofit Operation Smile has expansive medical and student volunteer programs consisting of thousands of kind-hearted generous volunteers supporting the organization’s mission to provide free cleft repair surgery and comprehensive care to individuals living in underserved communities around the world. For National Volunteer Month, Operation Smile recognizes a group of volunteers whose dedication to the cause and enthusiasm for helping others embodies the spirit of the organization.

One of these stellar volunteers is neonatologist Dr. Charlie Hoffmeister from Tucson, Arizona. As a volunteer pediatrician, Dr. Hoffmeister primarily works in pre- and post-operative care. In the past year, Dr. Hoffmeister has expanded his volunteer duties by serving on the Operation Smile Champion Program in Guatemala. The Champion Program is a mentorship initiative that brings together talented Operation Smile medical volunteers and local health care providers with the goal of increasing the quality of cleft treatment and access to global health care.

When asked about how he feels about his work in the Champion Program, Dr. Hoffmeister said, “It’s a new situation and therefore a new challenge with both caregiving and teaching activities which meets my desire to be a life-long learner.”

Another volunteer committed to life-long learning is speech-language pathologist Lisa Lalanne from Greenbrae, California, a town just north of San Francisco. At Operation Smile there are a multitude of ways to volunteer, from medical volunteers treating patients to student volunteers participating in service projects and hosting fundraisers. Even parents like Lisa who are sympathetic to the cause but are unable to volunteer as a student or medical provider can volunteer as a student sponsor or an adult chaperone.

Lisa first got involved with Operation Smile in 2013 when she got invited to be a speaker at an Operation Smile gala in San Francisco to share her experience being a parent to a child born with a cleft condition: “My son Carter had only had his cleft palate repair surgery earlier that year, so my emotions were still so raw. It was an honor to share my experience and express my gratitude to all the attendees who chose to support an organization near and dear to my heart, an organization that transforms lives just like my son’s life was thanks to his palate repair.”

In recent years, Lisa has volunteered as an adult chaperone at the organization’s International Student Leadership Conference (ISLC), an annual conference held in different locations around the world dedicated to helping students develop and strengthen skills in leadership and service. “The energy of these young leaders is contagious, and their determination is inspiring,” Lisa said about her experience attending the ISLC. “They are changemakers. I love the speakers, I love the team building activities, I love meeting like-minded people from all over the world, wanting to make a difference in the lives of others.”

One such volunteer benefiting from these student programs is recent college graduate and tech consultant, Roan Back. Roan is a native of Virginia Beach, Virginia, which is also home to Operation Smile’s global headquarters. Growing up near Operation Smile, Roan was heavily influenced by the good the organization was spreading both globally and locally in the Virginia Beach community. “I will say, I was just interested in working with Operation Smile in the 6th or 7th grade because of its medical background,” Roan recalls. “I was really interested in the medical world, but it felt like a space where I could pursue that interest while being a beneficial person rather than an intrusive person in the room. Because medical environments can get very personal.”

Since Roan became acquainted with Operation Smile, she has attended a peace mission to Panama, two surgical programs to India and Madagascar, multiple International Student Leadership Conferences, and she was even co-president of the Operation Smile club at the University of Virginia. The experiences Roan has had with Operation Smile Student Programs have truly shaped the person she has become and her interests in medicine and service have never waned.

Lisa Stephens is another Virginia Beach local who was bitten by the Operation Smile bug. She currently works as a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters. While she has worked in the NICU for 30 years, Lisa just recently got the opportunity to join Operation Smile’s team of medical volunteers during a surgical program at the organization’s facility in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Lisa absolutely loves working with children, so the opportunity to help those with limited access to health care was one she could not pass up.

When asked about her takeaways from her time in San Pedro Sula, Lisa said, “I see the parents as patients too. Giving their child to strangers for surgery is scary. I practiced Spanish with an app before I left and researched the Honduran culture to prepare myself to interact with patients and their families. I just wanted to give them a feeling of security. I would love to go on a surgical program every year! I plan on volunteering as long as I can!”

Dr. Charlie Hoffmeister, Lisa Lalanne, Roan Back, and Lisa Stephens are four volunteers representing the heart and soul of Operation Smile. The mission of the organization could not be carried out without the love, dedication, and passion provided by these volunteers. This National Volunteer Month, Operation Smile encourages individuals to consider giving back to their communities or being of service to those in need. The benefits of volunteering far outweigh any sacrifice. Happy National Volunteer Month!

About Operation Smile

Operation Smile is a global nonprofit specializing in expert cleft surgery and care. Over the last 40 years, we have provided medical expertise, research, and care through our dedicated staff and medical and student volunteers around the world, working alongside local governments, nonprofits, and health systems, and supported by our generous donors. Learn more at https://www.operationsmile.org/ or by following @operationsmile on social media.

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