Fair 34° F

Home > Archive > Oct 5, 2006

By Doug Radunich
Staff Writer
During October, participating member studios of Professional Photographers of America (PPA) from across the country join together for “Family Portrait Month.” This event is a national fundraising effort to benefit Operation Smile, a program that helps children who suffer from cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.

The professional photographers involved with the PPA have pledged to contribute a portion of each sale during October’s “Family Portrait Month” to PPA Charities, which has chosen Operation Smile as its charitable partner.

Here in St. George, Capture Today Photography is a local contributing business involved with Operation Smile. This is its first year being involved with the program.

“Operation Smile works with children all over the world, and it has medical mission sites in 30 different countries,” said owner and head photographer Shauna Stephenson. “All members of the PPA are able to participate, and I will continue to do so every October in conjunction with Family Portrait Month. As a professional photographer, I like everyone to have a pretty smile.”
Operation Smile volunteers began treating children who suffer from facial deformities back in 1982, and by 2005 more than 98,000 children all over the world had been treated by thousands of volunteers.

“Operation Smile is primarily for children in countries without the kind of medical services they need to cure their deformities,” Stephenson said. “However, it also helps children in the U.S. who are in poverty or don’t have the opportunity to receive the medical help they need.”
One inspirational Operation Smile case is the story of a Panamanian girl named Demetria, who had both a cleft lip and cleft palate and was not allowed to attend school because of her deformity. Embarrassed by her looks, she did not speak until she was 5, and she rarely left her own home. After visiting Operation Smile and undergoing a three-hour operation, Demetria was allowed to attend her local public school and participate in the same opportunities as her peers.

“Where she lived in Panama, they were not aware of that kind of surgery until a doctor referred her to Operation Smile,” Stephenson said. “With Demetria as an example, this program shows that it can really change peoples’ lives.” 

In addition to Operation Smile, another beneficial service Capture Today Photography is involved with is working with children needing to be placed with homes and families within the state.

“We help take pictures of kids within the state of Utah who need to be adopted and be placed in a good home,” Stephenson said. “The pictures then are circulated around the state for the benefit of families looking to adopt.” 

Operation Smile not only accepts donations from PPA members, but also from anyone wanting to help out the life of a child with a facial deformity. For more information call 757-321-SMILE or visit their Web site at www.operationsmile.org.

For more information on Capture Today Photography and how to join in helping these children, call Shauna Stephenson at 656-8844 or visit www.capturetodayphoto.com.

---