Tim Yap, Javi Martinez, and Sam Verzosa Join the 2023 London Marathon for Smile Train

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The world’s largest cleft-focused organization, Smile Train, and its signature endurance fundraising program Team Empower, heads to London for the world’s largest annual fundraising event, the TCS London Marathon. Together with 50,000 other runners, celebrity couple Tim Yap and Javi Martinez, along with businessman and legislator, Cong. Sam Verzosa take on the challenge of the 26.2-mile course for a good cause.

Tim Yap during the 2019 BMW Berlin-Marathon

“The genuine compassion and sustained service of our Smile Train ambassadors have been an essential part of our success today. Their collective efforts have helped give patients access to the care that they deserve and have extended the organization’s reach in providing safe and quality cleft treatment. We are grateful to Tim, Javi, and Sam for furthering their advocacy and pledging their commitment to this cause,” said Southeast Asia Vice President of Smile Train Philippines, Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano.

Maximizing fundraising potential with Team Empower

Since 1981, London Marathon events have raised over £1 billion in donations, maximizing revenues for charities worldwide. Boosting participants’ fundraising abilities, the marathon’s inspiring activities have been able to support causes from breast cancer awareness to brain research initiatives and children’s charities.

Javi Martinez during the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon 

Congressman Sam Verzosa during the 2023 Watsons Race for Wellness

Smile Train, one of the charities, strengthens its commitment to volunteerism and ensures that every child has the opportunity to lead a full and productive life. Together with 20+ other runners from other countries, Smile Train Team Empower will be represented by eventologist Tim Yap, his partner and events director, Javi Martinez, as well as Frontrow CEO and Congressman Sam Verzosa.

“For years now, I have been committed to supporting Smile Train’s cause and helping improve the lives of children with cleft. This cause is very personal to me and what drives me the most is my realized purpose and goals of helping the organization reach more patients in need of treatment. I want to finish strong and with my partner Javi by my side as well as my dear friend Sam, my confidence has greatly multiplied,” shared Yap when asked about his motivations for joining the marathon.

One of the team’s avid supporters is Miss Universe 2015 and fellow Smile Train ambassador, Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach. The beauty queen, who has been a long-standing representative of Smile Train and Team Empower in numerous fundraising events, advocated for the initiative and urged fans to support her friends in the upcoming marathon.

Pia Wurtzbach during her visit to Our Lady of Peace Hospital in 2017

“All this support is what makes Smile Train’s programs grow stronger throughout the years. Apart from comprehensive patient treatment, Smile Train also empowers medical professionals and local hospitals with all-around high-quality cleft care. Combined efforts have allowed the organization to go beyond surgery and allow children with cleft to not just live normally, but to thrive,” concluded Flaviano.

For more information on Smile Train’s projects and initiatives, you may check out Smile Train’s website at www.smiletrain.org/ and Smile Train Philippines’ Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SmileTrainPhilippines.

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About Smile Train

Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally. We advance a sustainable solution and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, drastically improving children’s lives, including their ability to eat, breathe, speak, and ultimately thrive. To learn more about how Smile Train's sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.ph. For more information about Smile Train’s work in the Philippines, please contact philippines@smiletrain.org.

Smile Train Expands Comprehensive Cleft Care Services Across Philippines

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Smile Train, the world's largest cleft organization, announced today the establishment of four Comprehensive Cleft Care (CCC) centers across the Philippines to increase accessibility of treatment to cleft-affected individuals and their families.

ARC Hospital in Lapu-Lapu City serving as the first Comprehensive Cleft Care (CCC) in Cebu)

Every day, more than 540 babies are born with a cleft around the world, an ongoing reality that calls for comprehensive solutions to help them overcome challenges and live a happy, healthy life.

For the past two decades, Smile Train has supported more than 64,000 cleft surgeries through its 50+ partner hospitals and organizations throughout Philippines. As the organization marks its 20th anniversary in the country, it is further expanding its services to include nutrition support, orthodontic and dental treatment, and speech therapy in more locations across Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

“Smile Train’s goal is to provide those born with a cleft the necessary holistic care beyond their initial surgeries. We will continue to build a network that will bring comprehensive cleft care to Filipinos, so they have the support and the tools they need to overcome any challenge. Through this network and these comprehensive cleft centers, we aim to ultimately provide them the ability to work, play, and live happy, healthy and productive lives,” said Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano, Smile Train’s Vice-President for South East Asia.

Smile Train’s geographical and programmatic expansion comes as the organization celebrates National Cleft and Craniofacial awareness month this July. Smile Train has launched comprehensive cleft centers at partner hospitals including the Philippine Band of Mercy and Marikina St. Vincent General Hospital in Metro Manila, San Fernandino Hospital in Pampanga, and Mabuhay Deseret Foundation in ARC Hospital in Cebu. At these centers, in addition to surgeries, parents and patients in need can access nutrition counselling and nutrition services, orthodontic treatment, and speech therapy sessions at no cost.

These institutions have served as Smile Train’s partners for years, helping patients from across different provinces and performing thousands of cleft surgeries with the assistance of Smile Train, and will be continuing to do so in an increased capacity as CCC centers. Philippine Band of Mercy has performed 25,300 Smile Train-funded cleft surgeries since 2002; Marikina St. Vincent has performed 1,900+ cleft surgeries since 2011; San Fernando Hospital has done over 1,000 cleft surgeries since 2011; and Mabuhay Deseret Foundation has performed 1,500+ cleft surgeries since 2008. Additional partner hospitals will be able to provide CCC in the coming months.

More on Comprehensive Cleft Care (CCC)

Comprehensive cleft care complements cleft surgery, which Smile Train has been providing at no cost to families in need for over 20 years in the Philippines. Cleft treatment is not a one-off process or even just a series of surgeries, but often requires a holistic approach including nutritional support, dental and orthodontic care, psychosocial support, and speech therapy. CCC is provided by an interdisciplinary, supportive team of highly trained professionals that typically includes geneticists, nutritionists, surgeons, nurses, speech therapists, ENTs, audiologists, mental health counselors, dentists, and orthodontists, among others. For Smile Train and its medical partners, CCC means that each person with cleft has access to all the care they need in order to thrive.

The expansion of Smile Train’s CCC footprint also supports its efforts to promote a working telehealth network, which will allow patients to access CCC despite the challenges posed by the pandemic and geography.

In the Philippines, the pandemic has not gotten in the way of Smile Train’s efforts to help cleft patients, providing over 1,800+ surgeries (pandemic-related) done in 2020, and 1,120 in the first 6 months of 2021 with 26 partners actively doing surgeries.

Since the start of the pandemic, Smile Train’s speech telehealth program in the Philippines has treated over 200 patients, providing them with more than 1,000 cleft care-related sessions. Recently, the organization launched the country’s first Filipino speech therapy mobile application which serves as a platform for more patients and families born with cleft to continue to receive comprehensive cleft care with minimal disruptions.

For more information about Smile Train’s global efforts and to donate, please visit smiletrain.org. 

To learn more about Smile Train’s local programs in the Philippines, please visit smiletrain.ph, follow Smile Train Philippines on Twitter and Instagram @SmileTrainPh, and like us on Facebook at @SmileTrainPhilippines. The Smile Train Philippines mobile application can be downloaded via Google Play and App Store.

About Smile Train

Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally. We advance a sustainable solution and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, drastically improving children’s lives, including their ability to eat, breathe, speak, and ultimately thrive. To learn more about how Smile Train's sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.ph. For more information about Smile Train’s work in the Philippines, please contact philippines@smiletrain.org.

Smile Train Launches First Filipino Speech Therapy App

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For the thousands of babies born with a cleft each year, speech therapy is an essential need. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has disrupted access to speech therapy services. 

Smile Train, the world’s leading cleft charity, stands by its commitment to continue promoting comprehensive cleft care despite the challenges brought about by the pandemic with the launch of its online speech therapy services.

With telehealth emerging as an important pillar of healthcare delivery in the Philippines, Smile Train Philippines is launching the very first Filipino mobile speech application in the country designed for those who were born with a cleft. The app was developed to help parents, guardians, and children in accessing speech therapy services online. With kid-friendly features and lively graphics, the app leads to a wide array of educational videos and speech therapy sessions, all in Filipino. The app also serves as a platform for more patients and families affected with cleft to connect with healthcare professionals to ensure that they can continue to receive comprehensive cleft care with minimal disruptions.

Since the start of the pandemic, Smile Train’s speech telehealth program in the Philippines has treated over 200 patients, providing them with more than 1,000 cleft care-related sessions— including speech therapy, nutritional support, breastfeeding guidance for mothers of babies with clefts, pre-surgical consultations, and psychosocial care. Smile Train envisions the app to be more than just a platform for learning, seeing it as a way to bring more smiles to cleft-affected families in the Philippines.

“Technology has allowed us at Smile Train to deliver the speech therapy needs of children with cleft throughout this pandemic. Safety is our foremost priority, and I am glad that this app allows us to safely serve the needs of these kids in the comfort and safety of their own homes,” said Smile Train’s South East Asia Director Kimmy Flaviano.

The Smile Train app also addresses a glaring gap in reaching kids with cleft. “With the app, distance is no longer a problem. Kids may start their speech therapy sessions which they otherwise would not have started without the app. Furthermore, the app encourages more Speech Pathologists to partner with Smile Train,” said Veronica Yu, a speech pathologist and the lead content creator of the app. “Partnering with Smile Train is life-changing, and I know that the Smile Train app will give many speech pathologists the fulfillment of knowing that they are making a difference in people’s lives,” Yu concluded.

“With or without the pandemic, digitalization of health services is definitely important as it allows patients to access health services in a more cost-effective way,” said Jeo Paz, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Nifty Hero. “This is precisely what the Smile Train speech app is trying to accomplish, providing hundreds of families with cleft access to speech therapy services at little to no cost at all, wherever they may be.”

Nifty Hero is the developer of the Smile Train app, advocating to help non-profit organizations in creating sustainable, cost-effective, and value-added health solutions to help organize, automate, and improve services offered.

The app is available for download on the App Store and Google Play in April. For more details about the app, visit http://smiletrainspeechapp.com/. 

For more information about Smile Train Philippines’ local efforts and to refer a patient in need, visit smiletrain.ph/get-help, follow Smile Train Philippines on Twitter and Instagram @SmileTrainPh, and like them on Facebook at @SmileTrainPhilippines.

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach Supports Smile Train

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The Miss Universe Organization recently announced that it will support Smile Train to raise awareness about the problem of cleft lips and palates across the globe. As part of her homecoming, newly-crowned Miss Universe Pia Wurtzbach met with Smile Train in the Philippines. 

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach shares,

“Through the partnership between Miss Universe and Smile Train, I am proud to continue helping children born with cleft lip and palate, giving these children and their families’ new smiles and new lives.” 

The new charitable partnership between The Miss Universe Organization and Smile Train the world’s largest cleft charity, will help raise awareness of the issues faced by children living with unrepaired clefts in the developing world. The new relationship will provide opportunities for the reigning Miss Universe and international titleholders to get involved with Smile Train’s global initiatives in the 85+ countries where the charity helps children.

“Smile Train is extremely proud of our partnership with Miss Universe. We hope that this partnership will help us reach more children around the world in desperate need of cleft surgery, a simple surgery that, not only creates a new smile, but also a new chance at life,” said Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano, Country Director for Smile Train in the Philippines. She adds, “It is a bonus that the current Miss Universe is from the Philippines, where there are close to 5,000 babies born every year with clefts.”

To learn more about the partnership, please view the recent announcement here:smiletrain.org/about/press-releases/the-miss-universe-to-support-smile-train.html

For more information about Smile Train's global efforts and to make a donation, please visit smiletrain.org. 

Follow Smile Train Philippines on Twitter and Instagram @SmileTrainPh.