Hollywood Popular Artists

Mar 22nd 2013, 14:46

Watching episodes of "Glee" is sure to make anyone smile, but Finn Hudson Cory Monteith knows that some kids are born with facial deformities that can keep them from smiling, eating and talking. That's why he turns to Operation Smile for help.

Cory Tweeted to his Gleeks:

OperationSmile.org transforms kids' lives all over the world. Text the word "SMILE" to 90999 to make a $5 donation! heal a smile. :)

— Cory Monteith (@CoryMonteith) March 21, 2013

Two forms of facial deformities are cleft lip and cleft palate, and they can be fixed with surgery. A baby is born with some sort of cleft every three minutes, and alarmingly one out of ten of these kids will die before they turn a year old. Think about it -- if your mouth makes it difficult to eat, what's going to happen? There's an issue, though: you need to have money and access to quality medical care to get clefts fixed and not everyone has the dollars.

This leads us to why Operation Smile got started. Since opening in 1982 (coincidentally, the same year Cory was born), it's offered 200,000 free surgeries to young people with facial deformities. They're worldwide, too, doing their work in more than 60 different countries. Operation Smile also trains doctors living in developing countries, something that helps the economy, health and well-being of the nations. The org is so legit and we love what they do.

So are you ready to help some kids get their smiles on? Get your thumbs out and text away. It's sure to bring a big smile to Cory's face...and the faces of more than a few kids', too.

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