Our “About Town” Journalist Gaye Watkins is seen above holding Megan Mylan’s academy award. Mylan, whose name was mispronounced three times during the reading of the nominees and the announcement of her victory (we can relate, man) won this year for best short film…”Smile Pinki.”
Don’t Need No Ticket to Get On Board …Gaye Watkins Reports.
The Smile Train is celebrating 10 years of 500,000 free surgeries for children with cleft lips and palates around the world. Founders Brian Mullaney, Bill Wang and Host
Norah O Donnell (MSNBC) were on hand to start the evening on St. Patricks Day. Supporters Colin Powell, Candice Bergen, Jane Kaczmarek (Malcolm in the Middle), and Christopher Meloni (Law and Order SVU) told a packed house of patrons in the Frederick P. Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center their feelings for the doctors, staff and children who make up Smile Train. Colin Powell spoke of the generous doctors who perform these surgeries and how we all must remember to help each other regardless of our circumstances in this uncertain economic time. Jokingly he added to the patrons not to worry the Dow will rise above 12,000. Jane Kaczmareck spoke of how her favorite event invitations are Smile Train events. She emotionally described her amazement and gratitude of the organization.
Christopher Meloni and Candice Bergen kept things moving along with their stories of visiting families and children in Haiti and India who were having the surgeries and observed during the operations. If you were a donor this past tuesday night it was truly your night. A Filet Mignon dinner, and a one hour concert by Ronan Tynan the Irish Tenor.
4 Open Bars, mini cheesecake lollipops which were my favorite, mini ice cream cones, live Jazz band till midnight and don’t go without having your picture taken with Producer/Director Megan Mylan who won for best documentary short Smile Pinki at the Academy Awards this year. Wow, theyre right, those Oscars really are heavy. Just wish I got a chance to thank The Academy, and god, and my family, but I think the other folks waiting to take a picture with Oscar just wouldn’t have stood for that. The Smile Train believes they provide the same services that similar charities do for one tenth the price. One reason for this is they offer training and supplies to doctors and their staff who live in these countries.
They believe in creating self sufficient communities and their biggest hope is to eradicate the overwhelming need for cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries in the world. Without these surgeries some infants cannot feed and are malnourished, Others are shunned in their communities and do not go to school. You cant help but tear up over some of these stories. What a nice thing to know that there really are angels everywhere.
