Author: sHq_LoGiNz
NEW YORK, July 20, 2026 /3BL/ – In recognition of World Cleft Awareness Day, Smile Train and Dentsply Sirona are celebrating a major milestone in their partnership—the 7,000th cleft surgery enabled since 2021—and sharing new data that quantifies its impact well beyond the operating room.
Behind that single number sits a wider story the partners are telling for the first time. Alongside the surgeries themselves, Smile Train and Dentsply Sirona are now sharing the long-term economic and human impact of this work as clear evidence that restoring a child’s smile reverberates through families, communities, and economies for decades.
Impact that outlasts the operating room
Using the framework of Smile Train’s Economic Impact Report, the surgeries enabled by Smile Train and Dentsply Sirona between 2021 and 2025 are projected to generate more than $470 million in economic value over the patients’ lifetimes. The figure reflects a straightforward truth: a child who can eat, speak, and breathe normally can go to school, find work, and contribute fully to their family and community—opportunities an untreated cleft can quietly foreclose.
The same surgeries are estimated to have averted more than 45,000 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)—a standard global-health measure in which one DALY represents one year of healthy life lost to disease or disability. Put simply, this work has restored the equivalent of more than 45,000 years of healthy living to children who might otherwise have spent them struggling to eat, speak, or breathe.
“When you give a child cleft care, you give them back their childhood,” said Susannah Schaefer, President and CEO of Smile Train. “On top of that, you give a community a future contributor. The economic impact we’re sharing today puts a value on how a healed cleft changes a life, and changed lives change the world around them.”
An impact built to last
Founded in 2021, the five-year partnership between Smile Train and Dentsply Sirona is focused on advancing digital cleft care globally, combining Smile Train’s global network of trained local providers with Dentsply Sirona’s digital dental technologies and know-how. Rather than delivering care through short-term surgical missions, the partners invest in local clinicians and equipment so that safe, high-quality, comprehensive cleft care is available in communities year-round.
“Behind every one of these 7,000 surgeries is a child who can now eat, speak, and smile without barriers, and a family whose future just changed,” said Rainer Seemann, VP, Chief Clinical Officer at Dentsply Sirona. “What moves me most is that this is not charity in the traditional sense. By equipping local clinicians with digital solutions and training, we’re building care that takes root in the community and stays there. That’s the kind of impact our people are proud to stand behind.”
The milestone is being marked on World Cleft Awareness Day, observed July 20, which spotlights the diverse experiences of the global cleft community and the importance of comprehensive medical, emotional, and social support. Cleft conditions are common—impacting roughly one in every 700 children worldwide—yet remain widely misunderstood, and in many regions timely, comprehensive care is still difficult to access even though proven solutions exist.
About Smile Train
Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally. We advance a sustainable solution and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, drastically improving children’s lives, including their ability to eat, breathe, speak and ultimately thrive. To learn more about how Smile Train’s sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.org.
About Dentsply Sirona
Dentsply Sirona is the world’s largest diversified manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies, with over a century of innovation and service to the dental industry and patients worldwide. Dentsply Sirona develops, manufactures, and markets a comprehensive solutions offering including dental and oral health products as well as other consumable medical devices under a strong portfolio of world-class brands. Dentsply Sirona’s innovative products provide high-quality, effective and connected solutions to advance patient care and deliver better and safer dental care. Dentsply Sirona is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Company’s shares are listed in the United States on Nasdaq under the symbol XRAY. Visit www.dentsplysirona.com for more information about Dentsply Sirona and its products.
Media Contact
Emily Gay | Public Relations
egay@smiletrain.org | (561) 308-0089
NEW YORK, July 20, 2026 /3BL/ – Lenovo Foundation and Street Child United (SCU) celebrated two exceptional young leaders, Samantha Richards and Deyna Mamani Meji, with the presentation of tickets to the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Final, recognizing their leadership, resilience and commitment to creating positive change in their communities. The special presentation took place in New York and featured Sir David Beckham, alongside Lenovo Chairman and CEO Yuanqing Yang, Gina Qiao, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Lenovo, SCU President and Founder John Wroe and SCU Head of Sponsorship Devin Moss.
The experience highlights Lenovo Foundation’s partnership with Street Child United, an organization that uses the power of sport to ensure street-connected young people are seen, heard and able to influence the decisions that affect their lives.
As part of the partnership, Lenovo Foundation is supporting Street Child United’s mission through technology access, digital skills development and funding initiatives designed to help young people develop critical skills for the future. Support includes donations of Motorola smartphones to help participants stay connected and share their stories, Lenovo PCs for SCU Young Leaders and staff, and funding for AI digital literacy training.
The two Young Leaders honored today were selected from Street Child United’s Young Leaders Program, which supports former participants who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and a deep commitment to their communities. As champions for the rights of street-connected young people, they represent the voices and experiences of their communities on national and international stages.
“At Lenovo Foundation, we believe that access to technology and education can unlock opportunity and transform lives,” said Calvin J. Crosslin, Vice President, Chief Inclusion Officer and President of Lenovo Foundation. “These two young leaders represent the extraordinary potential that exists in young people everywhere when they are given the tools, support and opportunity to succeed. Through our partnership with Street Child United, we are helping equip young leaders with the skills and technology they need to tell their stories, strengthen their communities and shape their futures. It is an honor to celebrate their achievements on one of the world’s biggest stages.”
John Wroe, CEO of Street Child United said: “We are delighted that Lenovo Foundation are providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to our Young Leaders. Partnerships like this are vital in helping us turn create opportunity for street-connected young people.”
The recognition builds on Lenovo Foundation’s broader support of Street Child United, including the donation of Lenovo PCs and Motorola smartphones and $25,000 in funding support for AI digital literacy training for SCU Young Leaders.
The partnership aligns with Lenovo Foundation’s mission to provide access to technology and education for communities that need it most while demonstrating how sport has the power to enable inclusion, opportunity and social impact around the world.
By combining the global reach of sport with access to technology and digital skills, Lenovo Foundation and Street Child United are helping ensure that young people from underserved communities have the opportunity to develop as leaders, advocates and changemakers.
Read more here about Lenovo’s partnership with FIFA and the FIFA World Cup 2026™.
Authors: Tannaz Daruwalla, Leonardo Tibaquira, Miquel Jordana (republished with permission of Accion)
Every morning in El Alto, Bolivia, Yoselin has dozens of financial considerations to think about before her first customer arrives. How much oil should she buy this week? Will rising food prices cut into her profits again? Will there be enough left at the end of the month to support her family?
At just 26 years old, Yoselin runs a small storefront where she serves salchipapas — a local dish of sausage and fries — and hamburgers to her customers, primarily young people from the surrounding community. She started the business to generate additional income for her family, but like many first-time entrepreneurs, she quickly discovered that hard work alone is not always enough to sustain and grow a business.
Managing and tracking inventory was time-consuming, producing high-quality food for her growing customer base was demanding, and she also had to contend with rising costs for her ingredients, making planning unpredictable. And like many small business owners operating informally, she relied mostly on instinct to manage expenses and cash flow.
That began to change when she connected with BancoSol, Accion’s longtime partner in Bolivia. Through BancoSol, Yoselin accessed a small business loan that helped stabilize her operations and invest more confidently in her business. She also participated in Ovante, Accion’s digital financial capability program supported by FedEx, designed for microentrepreneurs to strengthen financial skills and decision-making through practical, accessible learning.
These may sound like small changes, but for entrepreneurs operating on very thin margins, understanding cash flow and planning ahead can make the difference between surviving week to week and building long-term stability. The Ovante modules, offered to BancoSol’s customers via an online mobile platform and delivered in workshops, have had immediate benefits for women entrepreneurs like Yoselin. It has also proved beneficial for her family, including Yoselin’s mother, who was unfamiliar with the concept of formal budgeting for her household and business finances.
Digital tools have further expanded Yoselin’s reach. Through WhatsApp groups, she now communicates with her customers to let them know when she’s open and what’s on the menu. Recently, Yoselin started experimenting with TikTok to attract new customers and build her brand.
In communities like El Alto, where many women entrepreneurs operate informally and face constant economic uncertainty, access to practical financial tools can have a huge impact. The challenge is often not lack of ambition, but lack of access to tools, systems, and support that help microentrepreneurs make informed decisions and plan for growth. That is where programs like Ovante can play an important role. By combining financial education with digital accessibility, the platform helps entrepreneurs build not only technical knowledge, but also confidence and agency.
With improved confidence and decision-making power, women entrepreneurs are better able to contribute to their household income and plan for the future. Yoselin is setting an example for other women in her community, demonstrating that small changes in financial habits can build resilience against economic uncertainty.
Ovante’s digital financial education, delivered in partnership with BancoSol, is more than just a learning platform; it’s a catalyst for positive change. Since 2020, Accion has launched Ovante in Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, and India, reaching over 150,000 customers — two-thirds of whom are women.
Equipping microentrepreneurs with practical skills, confidence, and accessible tools enables them to thrive, adapt, and dream bigger in the face of adversity. For Yoselin, the transformation is deeply personal. She still faces rising costs and uncertainty, but today she approaches those challenges differently: with greater confidence, stronger financial habits, and a clearer vision for what her business, and her future, could become.
Click here to learn about FedEx Cares, our global community engagement program.
At a glance
- Devastating Impact: Hurricane Milton severely flooded and destroyed the home of Michelle and her family in Tampa, leaving them temporarily displaced and without a safe place to live.
- Resilient Partnership: Verizon’s Community Disaster Resilience initiative partnered with Habitat for Humanity to build and repair homes nationwide using storm-resistant, “FORTIFIED” construction standards that protect against future extreme weather.
- A New Beginning: Through this partnership, Michelle and her family will now live in a brand-new, disaster-resilient home in a 23-home development in Brandon, Florida, restoring their sense of safety and peace.
When Hurricane Milton tore through Tampa, Florida, on October 9, 2024, Michelle watched as floodwaters destroyed everything in her home—including clothes, furniture, and bedding—and shattered her sense of security.
“That was the scariest moment of my life,” Michelle says. Although it wasn’t in a flood zone, water cascaded throughout her parents’ house, where Michelle was living with her sons and granddaughter. The family survived the storm but the house was uninhabitable. They bounced between a shelter and family members’ homes for months.
Michelle and her family weren’t alone. Back-to-back-hurricanes caused widespread devastation in the Tampa Bay area that autumn, flooding homes and destroying roofs.
To help people recover from the storm, Verizon Community Disaster Resilience, an initiative to help communities prepare for, respond to and recover from extreme weather events, partnered with Habitat for Humanity, a global non-profit organization that helps families in need of affordable housing. The partnership works to build new homes, repair homes and provide homeowners with essential, disaster-resilient structural improvements.
For homes in Florida, such upgrades include storm shutters, hurricane-resistant windows and garage doors, as well as roof trusses and roof straps to help buildings withstand hurricane-force winds. This type of FORTIFIED construction in a home like Michelle’s leads to fewer insurance claims and greater cost savings for homeowners after disasters, reducing loss frequency by as much as 69 percent and loss severity by up to 32 percent.
“Building disaster-resilient homes brings stability to these families, and the security that they have a place to go during a storm—and they know after the storm, they’re going to have a place to live and feel safe,” says Richard Rogers, chief development officer for Habitat for Humanity of Tampa Bay Hillsborough.
Community Disaster Resilience sponsored the construction of a new home for Michelle, her adult sons, and her granddaughter. At a dedication ceremony, the family was welcomed to a brand-new, 23-home development in Brandon, Florida.
When a natural disaster happens, we are on the scene recovering the networks, but we also want to help build empowered and prepared communities.
Donna Epps
Senior Vice President and Chief Responsibility Officer at Verizon
“When a natural disaster happens, we are on the scene recovering the networks, but we also want to help build empowered and prepared communities,” explains Donna Epps, senior vice president and chief responsibility officer at Verizon. “[Community Disaster Resilience] was born to help communities and families prepare for natural disasters with strength, respond with urgency, and in this case, recover with resilience.”
Having a house where her family can feel safe and secure is what is most important to Michelle. “It’s your sense of peace, sense of comfort, a sense of family,” she says. “That’s what home means to me.”
For more information and to learn more, visit Verizon Community Disaster Resilience.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) powers and empowers how its millions of customers live, work and play, delivering on their demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity and security. Headquartered in New York City, serving countries worldwide and nearly all of the Fortune 500, Verizon generated revenues of $138.2 billion in 2025. Verizon’s world-class team never stops innovating to meet customers where they are today and equip them for the needs of tomorrow. For more, visit verizon.com or find a retail location at verizon.com/stores.
By Jordyn Martin
Earlier this June, Entergy Louisiana hosted the third annual Watt-A-Catch Fishing Rodeo — and thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our employees, partners and sponsors, this year’s event made an even bigger splash for families in need across our state.
The poker‑style tournament and silent auction brought together anglers from across the region, all united by a shared purpose: supporting The Power to Care, Entergy’s longstanding program that offers emergency bill assistance to older adults and customers with disabilities. Together, participants raised more than $190,000 — an impressive $55,000 increase over last year’s total, and a testament to the heart and commitment of the Entergy community.
This achievement was made possible through the leadership of William Sones, vice president of power delivery chief engineer; Victor Herrington, director of reliability performance; and William McDonald, director of field mentoring programs, whose dedication ensured a seamless and impactful event.
A legacy of community support
Since 2008, The Power to Care has worked alongside local nonprofits, Entergy employees and generous customers to reach those who need help most. To date, the program has provided essential support to more than 250,000 individuals facing financial hardship and has raised over $50 million to assist customers during challenging times.
This year’s rodeo not only adds to that legacy, it strengthens it. Each dollar raised helps ensure that when our most vulnerable neighbors face unexpected hardships, they aren’t navigating those moments alone.
Making a difference beyond the day
The impact of The Power to Care continues long after the fishing rods are packed away. The program provides year‑round assistance, offering comfort, stability and hope to customers who need it most.
To learn more or to support The Power to Care, visit the donation page here. Your contribution helps power life and uplift communities throughout Louisiana.
View original content here.
By Jordyn Martin
Earlier this June, Entergy Louisiana hosted the third annual Watt-A-Catch Fishing Rodeo — and thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our employees, partners and sponsors, this year’s event made an even bigger splash for families in need across our state.
The poker‑style tournament and silent auction brought together anglers from across the region, all united by a shared purpose: supporting The Power to Care, Entergy’s longstanding program that offers emergency bill assistance to older adults and customers with disabilities. Together, participants raised more than $190,000 — an impressive $55,000 increase over last year’s total, and a testament to the heart and commitment of the Entergy community.
This achievement was made possible through the leadership of William Sones, vice president of power delivery chief engineer; Victor Herrington, director of reliability performance; and William McDonald, director of field mentoring programs, whose dedication ensured a seamless and impactful event.
A legacy of community support
Since 2008, The Power to Care has worked alongside local nonprofits, Entergy employees and generous customers to reach those who need help most. To date, the program has provided essential support to more than 250,000 individuals facing financial hardship and has raised over $50 million to assist customers during challenging times.
This year’s rodeo not only adds to that legacy, it strengthens it. Each dollar raised helps ensure that when our most vulnerable neighbors face unexpected hardships, they aren’t navigating those moments alone.
Making a difference beyond the day
The impact of The Power to Care continues long after the fishing rods are packed away. The program provides year‑round assistance, offering comfort, stability and hope to customers who need it most.
To learn more or to support The Power to Care, visit the donation page here. Your contribution helps power life and uplift communities throughout Louisiana.
View original content here.
Whirlpool Corporation announced today that its Feel Good Fridge program has officially reached a major milestone, deploying more than 4,000 refurbished refrigerators across the United States. The company originally had a goal of deploying 3,000 fridges by 2030 nationwide. However, the company has bypassed this goal ahead of schedule through strengthened partnerships and the hard work of dozens of employee volunteers.
The program, originally launched by Whirlpool Corp. in 2021, is designed to solve a critical bottleneck in the food access pipeline. While fresh produce and healthy meals can be available for donation, community networks and food pantries sometimes lack the necessary refrigeration infrastructure to keep items fresh. By donating refurbished refrigerators, Whirlpool Corp. effectively diverts appliances from landfills while actively connecting vulnerable communities to fresh food.
“To exceed our goals so quickly speaks volumes to the urgency of the cause, the strength of our community partnerships, and the dedication of our 75-member core employee team,” said Feel Good Fridge program lead Kyle Trewhella.
Feeding America® is also pleased to recognize this milestone.
By pairing the Feeding America network’s supply of fresh food with fridge donations from Whirlpool Corporation, we’re removing barriers for people experiencing food insecurity and we’re glad to have such a strong partner to help end hunger.
“Access to nutritious food is vital for a healthy community,” said Diane Letson, vice president of food industry partnerships at Feeding America. “By pairing the Feeding America network’s supply of fresh food with fridge donations from Whirlpool Corporation, we’re removing barriers for people experiencing food insecurity and we’re glad to have such a strong partner to help end hunger.”
A Sustainable Solution
The Feel Good Fridge program operates as a collaboration that leverages corporate capabilities and non-profit expertise. Whirlpool Corporation provides the refurbished appliances and logistical infrastructure, while Feeding America® coordinates with local food banks to ensure the units remain continuously stocked with fresh food options for people facing hunger.
Measurable Impact
Since its inception in 2021, the Feel Good Fridge program has delivered:
- 4,000+ refurbished refrigerators deployed nationwide, keeping appliances out of landfills.
- 250,000+ Pounds of fresh food successfully delivered to food-insecure areas.
- 25,000+ Families reached across the country.
Expanding Our Footprint
The program now spans 20 states and the District of Columbia, providing vital support to urban and rural communities alike: Arizona (93 Feel Good Fridge units), California (515), Colorado (35), Florida (228), Georgia (346), Illinois (120), Indiana (205), Iowa (66), Massachusetts (28), Michigan (980), Minnesota (49), New York (62), North Carolina (50), Pennsylvania (111), Tennessee (28), Texas (506), Virginia (384), Washington (16), District of Columbia (2), Wisconsin (179)
To learn more about the Feel Good Fridge program, visit whirlpoolcorp.com/feel-good-fridge.
View original content here.