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Alliance for Smiles

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Alliance for Smiles

Alliance for Smiles is a San Francisco based non-profit that provides free cleft lip and palate surgery

08/21/2026

Daniel waited 15 years for the surgery he had been told was impossible. 💙

For most of Daniel’s life, his family believed that his cleft palate could not be treated. It wasn’t until his mother saw a flyer with a picture of a cleft palate that she realized her son had a treatable condition.

She told us that many people in her community still don’t know that cleft palate can be repaired with surgery.

When Alliance for Smiles traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, in November 2025, Daniel and his mother came to our opening clinic hoping he would finally receive the care they had been searching for. He was evaluated, prepared for surgery, but then, at the last moment, a fever meant his procedure had to be postponed.

But Daniel wasn’t giving up.

He called his coordinator every day to ask when our team would return. So determined was he to have his surgery that he even took malaria medication, despite not having malaria, because he didn’t want anything to prevent him from being cleared for surgery again.

Then, in April 2026, Daniel’s long wait finally came to an end.

Our incredible volunteer medical team performed his life-changing cleft palate surgery. After 15 years of waiting, Daniel finally received the care his family had once believed was out of reach.

Help us bring cleft care to more communities around the world: Support Alliance for Smiles – https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E348837&id=3

08/20/2026

What is it really like to volunteer on an Alliance for Smiles medical mission? 🌎💙

It’s more than traveling to another country and providing cleft care. It’s an experience that challenges you, connects you with an incredible team, and stays with you long after you return home.

🤝 It’s teamwork. You may arrive not knowing most of the people on your team, but within hours, you’re working side by side toward the same goal.

🌎 It’s exciting and challenging. You’re working in an environment that may be completely new, learning to adapt, solve problems and think on your feet.

💪 It’s intense. Mission days are long, demanding and sometimes exhausting. But every early morning and late night is part of something much bigger.

😊 And it’s incredibly rewarding. You’ll help provide life-changing cleft surgery and care to children and adults who may otherwise have limited access to treatment.

You’ll transform smiles, and be transformed by the experience yourself.

Swipe through to get a glimpse of what volunteering on an Alliance for Smiles mission is really like.

Ready to make a difference? Learn more about volunteering: www.allianceforsmiles.org

08/19/2026

Sometimes, a few hours can change a lifetime. 💙

In the skilled and caring hands of a surgeon and an entire volunteer medical team, a few hours in the operating room can be transformative for a child born with a cleft lip or palate.

At just nine months old, Dariel traveled with his family to Alliance for Smiles’ surgical mission in Retalhuleu, Guatemala, in 2022. There, he received free cleft lip repair, giving him a new smile and his family a new sense of hope.

Swipe through to see Dariel’s beautiful new smile. 😊

Help us create more smiles and change more lives: https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E348837&id=3&utm_source=chatgpt.com

08/18/2026

Alliance for Smiles Executive Director and CEO Jessica Hansen was recently featured in The Potrero View, where she shares insights into her career in nonprofit development, her leadership journey, and the work that continues to drive her commitment to creating access to cleft care around the world.

Jessica also reflects on her recent recognition at the 2026 Women Changing the World Global Summit in Paris, where she was named Woman of the Year and received Gold in the Humanitarian Impact category for her work making a difference in the lives of others.

💙 Read the full feature in The Potrero View: https://www.potreroview.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/PotreroView_2026-08_16pgs_download.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

08/17/2026

Katherine lived for 18 years with a cleft palate, struggling to speak clearly and facing teasing and bullying because of her condition.

In 2009, Alliance for Smiles’ medical volunteers performed life-changing cleft surgery during our mission to Santiago City, The Philippines. Katherine described our volunteers as her “angels”, and the surgery gave her something she had always dreamed of: the confidence to speak clearly and live without the fear of being teased.

So grateful for the transformation she experienced, Katherine left our team a heartfelt note – one we continue to treasure to this day. 💙

Every cleft surgery has the potential to transform far more than a smile. It can help a child or adult find greater confidence, health and hope.

Help us transform more lives like Katherine:
https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E348837&id=3

08/14/2026

In 2016, Alliance for Smiles traveled to Ilorin, Nigeria, where our incredible team of medical volunteers evaluated children and adults living with cleft conditions and provided 112 cleft surgeries.

Among the patients we met were 10-year-old Kehinde, four-month-old twin brothers Abubakar and Mahmud, and 24-year-old Nafisat.

Each was born with a cleft lip, but they were all at different stages of their cleft journey. For each of them, access to surgery meant an opportunity for a healthier, brighter future.

✨ Swipe to see their transformations.

08/13/2026

Afrin “Meem” Akhtar was born with a cleft palate and tongue-tie, conditions that made it difficult for her to speak.

In 2017, Meem and her family came to Alliance for Smiles’ mission in Khulna, Bangladesh, where our volunteer medical team provided her with life-changing surgery.

🎥 Watch Meem’s cleft story.

Help us transform more lives like Meem:
https://wl.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=E348837&id=3

08/12/2026

In 2019, during our mission to Sagaing, Myanmar, we met nine-month-old Phoo Htoo, a cheerful baby with an unforgettable smile.

But behind that smile was a difficult story. Born with a cleft lip, Phoo Htoo had been rejected by his father because of his condition. His family had not even given him an official name. Phoo Htoo roughly translates to "Strange Boy" in Burmese was what they were calling him at home.

With help from our Mission Director Sophie Stone, who is from Myanmar, we gave him a new name: Ye Yint Htun, which means “Brave Success.”

His grandmother, who brought him to our clinic, was overjoyed – not only to see his new smile, but to give him a name that reflected the future she hoped he would have.

Thanks to our incredible volunteer medical team, he also received life-changing cleft surgery.

👉 Swipe to see Phoo Htoo’s transformation into Ye Yint Htun.

08/11/2026

When 13-year-old Samanta’s parents brought her to Alliance for Smiles’ opening clinic in Guaranda, Ecuador, they were hoping she could finally receive the cleft palate surgery she needed.

Born with a cleft palate, Samanta had difficulty eating and drinking and wanted surgery to help prevent fluid from entering her lungs. Her cleft condition had also affected her speech, and she faced bullying at school.

Samanta and her parents traveled seven hours from Guayaquil, hoping our medical volunteers could help. And they did.

During our January 2026 mission to Ecuador, our volunteer surgical team performed a palatoplasty, closure of an oronasal fistula, and rhinoplasty – all completely free of charge.

Today, Samanta is on the road to recovery and toward a healthier, brighter future. ✨

We’ll be back in Guayaquil this November to provide more life-changing cleft care. Stay tuned for updates!

08/10/2026

Alliance for Smiles’ recent cleft surgery mission in Accra, Ghana is making headlines 💙

Our work was featured by GTV Ghana highlighting the life-changing cleft lip and palate surgeries performed by our volunteer medical team, and the impact on children and families.

🎥 Watch the news feature (starting at 16:14):
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2460036081136695

Address

2565 3rd Street, Ste 237
San Francisco, CA
94107

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+14156474481

Website

https://allianceforsmiles.org/

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