Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to help children with cleft smile

Mumbai, Nov 1 : Bollywood actor Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is all set to spread some smiles as the first goodwill ambassador of Smile Train -- an international cleft charity organisation.

Aishwarya, who turned 36 today, has also extended support of her charity organisation, Aishwarya Rai Foundation, for spreading awareness and garnering recourses to help the worldwide movement of Smile Train, a release said here today.

Reacting to the announcement, the diva said, ''God has given me plenty of reasons to smile and I feel it's time to spread it around.

There are a lot of children who need help, but can't receive timely care because their families cannot afford this surgery or are ill-educated about this condition. Working with Smile Train, if I can make a difference in their lives, will certainly make me feel honoured and blessed.'' Smile Train currently has over 150 Smile Train partner hospitals in India and has helped in over 200,000 surgeries. According to the organisation, in India alone, over one million children await surgery and currently only 50 per cent of children born with cleft in India ever get the necessary care. The organisation partners with near 1,100 hospitals worldwide for helping the children living with unrepaired clefts.

''Aishwarya's universal appeal and star power will be a priceless asset to our organisation, and we consider it a great privilege to have her represent our organisation,'' Smile Train President Brian Mullaney said.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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