Our annual Community Giving Campaign is coming in November. This is the campaign where employees and retirees can take advantage of payroll deduction to donate money to their favorite charities – and double your money at the same time. The National Life Group Foundation matches our contributions. As we gear up for the start of the campaign, we wanted to share a few stories about why our teammates Spread the Good. We’re calling it, Why I Give. Today, we asked Orlando Aguilar to explain why he supports the charity that he chose for the Community Giving Campaign.
Please start by naming the nonprofit(s) that you contribute to and the work that they do.
Smile Train has provided comprehensive cleft care to children born with cleft lip in 85+ countries around the world. In addition to cleft surgery, Smile Train provides critical pre and post-operative comprehensive care for their patients.
Please explain why you chose the organization(s) that you did, and share the personal connection you have with this organization.
My nephew Marcus was born with a cleft lip back in 2006. At the time, our family had no clue what a cleft lip was, but our main focus was to ensure his safety and well-being. The doctors made sure my family and I were educated on the different ways it could be fixed, and their love, patience, and dedication helped us through a very hard time. My nephew now lives a normal life. I chose to donate to my organization because I wanted to help other families dealing with this issue have the same positive experience my family and I had.
For photos: please describe the photo, where it is taken, the people that are in the photo, etc.
The photo above shows Marcus before and after surgery.
Feel free to add any other info that you think would be helpful.
What are cleft lips and palates?
A cleft occurs when certain body parts and structures do not fuse together during fetal development. Clefts can involve the lip and/or the roof of the mouth, which is made up of both hard and soft palate.