Charity gala dinner for smiles
RANDPARK – The gala event held at Randpark Club was in aid of Operation Smile SA.
It is said that a smile is the ultimate source of positive energy. It has also been said that when our brains feel happy, endorphins are produced and neuron signals are transmitted to your facial muscles to trigger a smile.
In addition, it is believed that when our smiling muscles contract, they fire a signal back to the brain, stimulating our reward system, and further increasing our level of happy hormones, or endorphins
So it would come as no surprise that locals like Debbie Lowther would work to see that the world do more smiling than frowning. Lowther recently held a charity gala dinner at Randpark Club in aid of Operation Smile SA. This organisation does free corrective surgery, for cleft lip and pallet suffers.
It costs about R5 000 for the 45min surgery and Lowther feels the organisation needs as much money as they can generate so they can help change the lives of many. “Our country is currently training surgeons to do this operation and this why such events are being held.”
“After my visit to Ghana last year, I saw how this organisation changes peoples lives, not just the children but the adults as well. People hide away, and others do not even want to look at them, after this corrective surgery they have a different lip,” she said.
People who need these surgeries are either born with a cleft lip or a cleft pallet. Lowther said a lot of the time children actually die due to lack of food and some case lack of knowledge from parents. “The child is not getting any food in because the pallet is open and the food comes out of their nose and the parents do not know to look for a cleft pallet which is not as easy to recognise a the lip. If they leave it for too long, they will not be able to speak properly.”
Randpark Club donated a cheque for R20 000 which equates to four smiles and through the auction that was held that evening, more money was raised. Guest speaker for the gala was motivational speaker, David Grier who established the ‘Miles for Smiles Foundation’ which raises funds through adventure racing for Operation Smile SA. He motivated guests to never stop believing in themselves and the changes they can make to the world.
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