Partners
We have received large grants from Smile Train that has helped to finance our trips to Guatemala from 2007-present. Their contributions and support have made it possible to help more children with cleft lip and/or palate problems than ever before. Thank you, Smile Train!
In Guatemala, the Surgical team partners with the Pediatric Foundation of Guatemala. Their staff announces the team’s visit, provides the initial screening, and assists the families in bringing the children to Guatemala City. A second screening is done by the HSF team at the Pediatric Foundation Headquarters and surgery is performed at Hospital Nino Jesus, a small well-furnished pediatric hospital close to the clinic. The Humanitarian and Dental Services team works with local city and village officials and school teachers to arrange for visits to villages to provide dental care, health teaching and friendship to children and their families.
The Fundacion International para Ninos headed by Dra. Naomi Bronstein assists in finding children while visiting small mountain villages to provide medical servies free of charge. Without her, children would go unfound and untreated.
In Mexico, we have visited the city of Boca del Rio for the last two years (2008 and 2009). We will go again in September of 2010.The Mayor’s office and his wife Patty has sponsored us as part of their DIF project. They have found us many precious children who need our help. The government sponsors the team, notifies officials in the district of the team’s visit, arranges for screening and assists in preparing the children for surgery. They provide lodging and meals for the surgical team as well as the patients and their families.
It takes a lot of surgical equipment, dental instruments, and “soft medical supplies” to run our programs and provide care for those in need. In Salt Lake City, Globous ReliefFund helps Hirsche Smiles Foundation obtain the material resources necessary to perform surgeries, hold dental educational clinics, and donate health and educational supplies. Globous ReliefFund is a non-profit humanitarian aid organization dedicated to gathering, processing and distributing high-quality humanitarian resources to charity groups serving populations in need. For more information, please visit www.ReliefFund.org.
Jed R. BindrupMD
Dr Jed Bindrup has opened a large storage area in his office building for us to store our supplies, pack, and prepare for our missions. In addition Canyon Crest Surgical Center in the same building performs us a great service by sterilizing our instruments prior to each trip. Thanks to both!