Operation Smile: Sault teen committed to helping children

Every year in October a student-led, teacher-guided campaign at St. Mary’s College raises funds for Operation Smile, a non-profit organization that provides life-changing surgeries to children in developing countries with cleft lips or palates.

The required surgery to repair a cleft lip or palate costs approximately $240 per child.

Enthusiastically looking forward to playing a role in this year’s school fundraising campaign that takes place from Oct. 18 to Oct. 25, SMC student Danielle Baril successfully applied to attend the annual Operation Smile International Student Leadership Conference (ISLC) held at Emory University in Atlanta from July 22 to July 28, 2024.

The conference was attended by 350 people from 28 countries.

“I thought it was a great idea and a good opportunity to work on my leadership skills. Everyone I spoke to thought it would be a really good opportunity and it was the best experience I could ever imagine,” Baril told SooToday.

Baril, 17, is now in Grade 12 at SMC.

“I learned a lot. There were things I didn’t know about cleft conditions. There are a lot of different cleft conditions where you can have a cleft lip and palate on both sides. I thought there were only two different conditions but there’s six of them,” Baril said.

She served as an assistant team lead at the conference, bonding with other young people gathered from across the globe.

“We had speakers each day throughout the week. Everyone shared their stories, whether they were people that had cleft conditions or people who have helped with Operation Smile. I decided I want to start doing more with Operation Smile so I’m going to go to next summer’s ISLC as well. I don’t want to do just one year and that’s it. I want to keep doing it after high school. I want to keep helping and donating my time and going to these leadership conferences because I know they have university-level teams too,” Baril said.

The conference consisted of many group activities.

“It really built bonds between everyone there. It made me think that when everyone works together it really does impact the world,” Baril said.

“Maggie Doyne, one of the speakers I met at the conference, inspired me to keep doing what I do and to work harder as an individual to spread awareness of cleft conditions.”

Doyne co-founded BlinkNow, a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally recognized school and children's home in Nepal. When she was 19, Doyne invested her life savings of $5,000 to purchase a property on which to build the school after witnessing the poverty of Nepali children.

“Speakers like Maggie left me with a remarkable experience. The connections I made and the lessons I learned at ISLC will shape my future endeavours so I can bring a positive energy to my peers and my community,” Baril said.  

“Danielle’s going to take a coordinator role (in this year’s Operation Smile campaign at SMC). She’s been to the conference and she’s learned quite a bit about the organization. Danielle’s very passionate. We’re going to see what she brings to the table. I’m expecting great things because she’s a great worker,” said Rita Trecroce, SMC French Immersion teacher and Operation Smile mentor.

“If she’s comfortable with public speaking she may be the person to do the campaign’s kickoff presentation in the auditorium or she may want to create the presentation that’s going to be shared with the student body,” Trecroce said.    

SMC raised $4,600 in last October’s Operation Smile campaign providing 19 children worldwide with reconstructive cleft lip and/or cleft palate surgeries.

The high school is well known by the Operation Smile organization for its long involvement with the charity.

Students, staff and teachers as well as the school’s parent community and local businesses raise funds for each year’s campaign.

Baril said her interest in Operation Smile stems in part from the fact that two older siblings were team members in prior SMC fundraising campaigns.

However, other life experiences brought her to the point where she decided she wanted to devote her career to helping others.

“When I was younger I worked at the YMCA for summer camp and after-school programs and I was involved with kids that had problems at home. Sometimes I would have to call the Children's Aid Society and report incidents. I would see children come to the day camps with bruises or burns. We weren’t allowed to ask them directly what had happened so we had to figure out how this might have come up,” Baril said. 

“I remember one girl had a different mark on her body each day so I had to talk to CAS about her story and what I thought might have happened. The Operation Smile conference brought my memory back to those days when I did that and I thought if I want to be more involved in the world and make a change in people’s lives and make their lives better, then I should be a social worker.”

Baril said that upon graduation from high school next summer she plans to enrol in Algoma University's Bachelor of Social Work Degree program.

“When I was younger I wanted to be a nurse, to help children. When I started high school I decided I want to be a social worker. I’ve worked with kids before so I knew I wanted to do something for kids. I want to work more with kids that struggle with family problems. I know that social workers do visits at homes to make sure everything’s alright so I want to be a part of that.”

For now, Danielle Baril, also known as ‘Dan’ or ‘Danny’ to her friends, keeps busy not only with her high school studies but also as a ringette player and official at the local and provincial level and works on a part-time basis as a customer service representative at a local IDA Drug Mart. 

Looking ahead, Baril said she not only looks forward to a career as a social worker but also continued involvement with Operation Smile.

She desires to travel to other countries and witness Operation Smile’s work with her own eyes. 

“The doctors go and do as many surgeries on as many children as they can. You get to see the surgery. You get to stand in the surgical room and watch them do it and you get to spend time with the children. You get to hang out with them when they’re there, make sure they stay happy and play games with them. Most of the time you’re with one family and one child. Knowing that most of Operation Smile is built around children makes me happy.”