![Cleft Awareness Month 2021 #cleftproud](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-07/cleft-awareness-month-cleft-proud-2021.jpg?itok=buw1bbZh)
What My Cleft Taught Me
In honor of Cleft Awareness Month 2021, Smile Train's Cleft Community Advisory Council presents real-life stories of growing up with a cleft or being the mom to a child with a cleft from people who have been there.
![Students for Smiles logo](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-05/cla-state-fullerton-students-for-smiles-logo.jpg?itok=YQZTZDYl)
California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) Students Turn Crisis into Smiles
How one chapter of Smile Train’s Smile Impact Society made 2020 its most lucrative year yet.
![Iva as a girl before cleft surgery and now.](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-05/iva-ballou-og.jpg?itok=Qc0JOgaA)
How Iva Found Joy in Her Cleft
![Dr. Luis Cuadros with a cleft lip and palate patient and his family on a New Mexico Navajo reservation.](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/cuadros-new-mexico-navajo-cleft-lip-cleft-palate-surgeries-with-patients_0.jpg?itok=h_bvdazb)
"It Is Possible": Celebrating Dr. Luis Cuadros
Thanks to Dr. Cuadros — and Smile Train — having a cleft on the Navajo reservations of New Mexico is no longer a sentence to a life of isolation and sickness.
![Hema on red carpet with Smile Train YLC backdrop](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/hema-with-ylc-red-carpet.jpg?itok=Bw7jYDrP)
Why Hema Smiles No Matter What
When Hema was 12 years old, she learned that not everyone born with a cleft received the care she did. She decided right then to change that.
![William David Boling with his wife](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/william-david-boling.jpg?itok=hhtDV7uv)
Three Generations of Clefts, One Lifelong Commitment to Smiles
Why Dave is a proud monthly donor to Smile Train.
![Smile Train CleftCon 2020](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-03/cleftcon-smile-train-2020.jpg?itok=dP2ES-Wq)
Cleft Con Unites #Cleftstrong Community in Pride and Power
"There's power in my cleft."
![Jessi holds her daughter Brennan](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/jessi-holds-daughter.jpg?itok=xRNo7bbM)
“It is a Journey”: In Conversation with the Mom of a Child With a Cleft
Clefts are not just "fixable."
![Tom Ragland Smile Train supporter](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/tom-ragland-smile-train.jpg?itok=7RRcdMMM)
Tom Ragland: “Every Child Deserves the Right to Smile.”
"Be strong. Work hard. Love one another."
![Homer Scoville Smile Train supporter](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-02/homer-scoville-smile-train-supporter.jpg?itok=vuQ6m0sw)
Homer Scoville’s Legacy of Successes and Smiles
While Homer succeeded in three challenging careers, he was most proud of the smiles he made along the way.
![Group of Smile Train fundraisers in matching smile shirts](/sites/default/files/styles/1_column_470_x_305/public/2021-03/run-for-smiles-marathon.jpg?itok=tYcDVD-S)
Team EMPOWER’s 24 Hour Run for Smiles Races Past its Goal
The plan was simple: Raise $12,500 by having someone, somewhere, running or walking for smiles every minute of the day July 1.