[vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_image=”777502″ css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”150px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1663089384674{padding-top: 15px !important;padding-right: 5px !important;padding-bottom: 15px !important;padding-left: 5px !important;background-color: rgba(24,41,87,0.8) !important;*background-color: rgb(24,41,87) !important;}”]<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/3″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=”150px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” background_color=”#00205b” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”40px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text]A few months ago, Clinton Morrison, MD\u2014the director of the Pediatric Cleft and Craniofacial Center<\/a> at the University of Rochester\u2019s Golisano Children\u2019s Hospital\u2014had no idea he\u2019d be spending one August afternoon in a chilly dunking tank at Jellystone Park, a campground located between Rochester and Buffalo, N.Y.<\/p>\n Morrison got dunked about 50 times that day. It was one of many activities\u2014alongside wagon rides, sports, and crafts\u2014that yielded a lot of smiles at the annual camp the center hosts for children who were born with cleft palates and other craniofacial deformities.<\/p>\n More than 300 children, teenagers, and their families attended camp this year. Some had surgery years ago, while others had it within the last few months or years. Many have never met others who looked like them or who have faced the same issues they have. Most couldn\u2019t smile\u2014or struggled to do so\u2014for a long time, due to facial deformities. Still others had issues eating, swallowing, and just getting through the day. The camp brings them together for a full day of fun and camaraderie.<\/p>\n \u201cMeeting and connecting with people who have a shared life experience is validating, and it builds community,\u201d says Morrison. \u201cIt shows these kids and their parents that they aren\u2019t alone, and it brings them hope.\u201d<\/p>\n Reconstructive plastic surgery has changed their lives.<\/p>\n That\u2019s also what Morrison has seen in Antigua, a quaint ancient city in Guatemala. For the last six years, he\u2019s led URMC\u2019s participation in an annual medical mission trip organized through the Help Us Give Smiles (HUGS) Foundation<\/a>. HUGS is a Rochester, NY-based charity that facilitates surgeries around the world on children who have cleft lips, palates, and microtia (an underdeveloped ear).<\/p>\n Upon arriving in Guatemala this year, Morrison; Sara Neimanis ’10, \u02bc20M (Res), an assistant professor within the plastic surgery division; and about 25 other healthcare professionals from around the U.S. transformed an empty building into a topnotch surgical center within about 12 hours. Then, after screening about 100 potential patients\u2014many of whom have traveled days to get to them\u2014the health care teams got to work. They start each day at 7 a.m., when they begin their first of 10 or so surgeries. They finish after dark. Over the course of the week about 75 deserving babies will receive new smiles.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking in Guatemala was, and continues to be, a tremendous opportunity,\u201d says Neimanis. \u201cI see firsthand the extent of craniofacial anomalies in other parts of the world. This underscores for me the importance of the work we are doing and that I can do something that addresses some of the health issues we, as a society, face globally.\u201d<\/p>\n Adds Morrison, \u201cThe mission trip is exhausting, but so rewarding. These families don\u2019t have the same kind of access to health care that we have here. They\u2019ve heard \u2018no\u2019 often and they\u2019ve just about given up. Many of the kids need multiple surgeries, too, which is why we go back to the same community year after year. We get to know the families, and they trust us. It\u2019s a huge responsibility and an incredible joy and honor to help so many people smile.\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”grid” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_gallery interval=”3″ images=”777352,777332,777322,777312,777302,777292″ img_size=”full” show_image_title=”show_image_title” title_alignment=”left”][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1665576381805{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 35px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #00205b !important;}”]<\/p>\n Joseph Serletti \u201982M (MD), \u201988M (Res) and Bonnie Serletti \u201990M (MD), \u201994M (Res), recently made a $1.5 million gift<\/a> to initially establish the Serletti Family Cleft and Craniofacial Humanitarian Outreach Initiative to support the Pediatric Cleft and Craniofacial Center\u2019s<\/a> Guatemalan outreach program along with an annual camp that serves patients from western New York. Ultimately, this endowment will fund the Serletti Family Professorship, which will help attract, retain, and honor exemplary faculty clinicians in the plastic surgery division.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”25px” image_repeat=”no-repeat”][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner row_type=”row” type=”full_width” use_row_as_full_screen_section_slide=”no” text_align=”left” css_animation=”” box_shadow_on_row=”no”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1663091795285{padding-top: 25px !important;padding-right: 25px !important;padding-bottom: 35px !important;padding-left: 25px !important;background-color: #e7e7e7 !important;}”]<\/p>\nGenerous benefactors<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Get involved<\/strong><\/h4>\n