Smile Train moves to build on Team Empower’s gains in the Philippines
FINDING much success when it first brought to the country Team Empower, its global endurance fund-raising program, last year, Smile Train has brought it back to further build on its gains.
A worldwide organization founded to help people born with clefts and those in need of treatment, Smile Train has made significant strides since being set up in the country in 2001, providing 50,000 life-changing surgeries as of last year and partnering with more than 50 hospitals nationwide to help it in its mission.
Smile Train is seeing its mission and vision through by organizing various fund-raising programs including Team Empower, which has been up since 2013 globally but was brought to the Philippines only in 2017.
Team Empower of Smile Train has charity slots to sold-out marathons and multi- sport races, including a number of Ironman races around the world, where athletes who want to do their share in cleft charity can join and help.
The athletes, as part of Smile Train Team Empower, have to raise a certain amount each to help fund cleft surgeries in the country.
“Last year was the first year we brought Team Empower in the country and what we discovered was that a lot of people really wanted to help and they just did not know where to go. Many of them just did not how to do it,” said Kimmy Coseteng- Flaviano, Smile Train Philippines Country Director, in an interview with BusinessWorld during the presentation of Team Empower 2018 members last week.
“So last year we had a team of 10 athletes only for Cebu [ Ironman] but this year we have 20 athletes racing in various races around the world. There is a lot of interest in it,” she added.
IRONMAN SUBIC
Included in the race calendar for Smile Train Team Empower this year is the first-ever Full Ironman Philippines in Subic on June 3 where six athletes from the group will take part.
The athletes are Smile Train Philippines celebrity ambassador Carlene Aguilar- Ocampo, neurosurgeon Dr. Levi Maliwat, endurance racers Riz Estrada and Sheila Gagui, coach Bing Benares and Rojan Pajarin, who was born with cleft lip and palate and is an elite runner.
Just like last year, members of Team Empower needed to raise a slightly higher amount of $ 2,500 (P125,000) for Smile Train Philippines-sponsored surgeries.
The participants shared that they found raising the needed amount not really tough to do since many in the country love to do their share and help.
“I did not really have a hard time raising the funds. I just reached out to my friends and shared what Smile Train is and its mission and they immediately shared their resources. The race is in June but as early as November last year I was already done with the fund-raising,” said Ms. Aguilar- Ocampo in a separate interview.
For pioneering Smile Train Team Empower member Dr. Gene Tiongco, to see how the program is now received here and continue to grow brings a lot of joy and pride to him.
“When we started, people did not know about Team Empower. But when word came out about it, it started to grow. It brings pride on our part how it has evolved and continue to grow. That has been our mission, to channel focus on Smile Train and what it is trying to do, and I think we were able to do that,” said Mr. Tiongco, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, who raced in the Ironman 70.3 race in Cebu last year.
To learn more about Smile Train Team Empower and the races, visit: smiletrain.org/ get- involved/ teamempower or e- mail philippines@ smiletrain.org.