500 Smile Run, 6 & 27 Nov. 2011

Operation Smile (OS) Philippines will celebrate their 30th anniversary on November 2012 with the theme Journey Home.

How It Started

OS was founded by Dr. William P. Magee Jr., a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, a nurse and clinical social worker, in 1982 after a medical mission in Naga City, Philippines. Of the 300 families who arrived hoping to get reconstructive surgery for their children’s cleft lips and palates, only 40 children were treated and the others were turned down due to time constraints. The couple promised to return to treat more children. Back home, the couple did solicitations, raised funds, and gathered volunteers for another medical mission to the Philippines. The first mission was the inspiration to what is now known as the global organization Operation Smile.

Quick Facts

In the Philippines, it is estimated that one in every five hundred babies is born every year with a cleft lip, a cleft palate or both. It translates roughly to 4,004 Filipinos out of 2.064 million born every year having this deformity.

Since 1982 OS conducted 230 missions in 68 cities and municipalities, and treated 24,000 patients. Cleft lip and palate deformities are among the top 12 birth defects in the country. (Source: Philippine Birth Defect Registry, a joint project of the Department of Health and the US National Institute of Health Institute of Human Genetics)

How Does OS Work?

OS conducts medical missions in its partner countries, provides FREE reconstructive surgery, and builds awareness on its programs.

Which Countries Run OS missions?

OS conducts surgical missions in over 60 countries and currently has presence in 76 countries including the Philippines, Cambodia, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam among others.

OS also has worldwide offices in Hong Kong, London, Dublin, Brisbane, Rome, Los Angeles, and New York City that raise funds and awareness to support international programs. It has also created a global medical institution comprised of a worldwide network of teaching hospitals and university partners to help train health care professionals.

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The 500 Smile Run project is created to generate funds for OS’s 30th anniversary mission and provide FREE life changing reconstructive surgery to at least 1,500 Filipino children and young adults in ten days through simultaneous surgical missions in various parts of the country, namely, Bacolod, Cavite, Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, South Cotabato, Makati, Naga, and Pampanga.

RACE DETAILS

6 Nov. 2011
Quirino Grandstand, Rizal Park, Manila

Race Categories and Fees
500m for children | P 300
3K | P 500
5K | P 500
10K | P 650
16K | P 800

27 Nov. 2011
Rizal Park, Davao City
Race Categories and Fees
3K, 5K, 10K | P 350
16K | P 650

Assembly and Gun Start
16K | 5:00 AM | 5:30 AM
10K | 5:00 AM | 5:40 AM
5K | 5:00 AM | 5:50 AM
3K | 5:00 AM | 5:55 AM
500m | 5:00 AM | 6:00 AM

Chris Sports (Registration Period: September 23 – 3 Nov. 2011)

SM Fairview
SM Manila
Robinsons Place Ermita

Puma Stores (Registration Period: October 7 – 3 Nov. 2011)
Bonifacio High Street
Trinoma
Greenbelt 5
Cash N’ Carry (Buendia)

Smart Business Centers (Registration Period: October 7 – 3 Nov. 2011)
Ayala Avenue Head Office
Megamall

The 500 Smile Run is Organized by

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