Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft charity and SanDisk
Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK),
a global leader in flash storage solutions, today announced that they
have partnered to continue building a sustainable system to address the
solvable problem of the cleft lip and palate. Through the SanDisk
Foundation, SanDisk’s global commitment is helping to bring
life-changing cleft care to children in developing countries by
committing support through technology solutions, services, volunteer
matching gifts, and grant funds.
“Technology innovations are opening new doors for healthcare access.
Partnering with technology leader SanDisk will be instrumental in
helping to expand the work that Smile Train has done since 1999,
leveraging new technologies to help train local medical professionals so
that they are empowered to provide surgery and related treatment to even
more children living with unrepaired clefts,” said Susannah Schaefer,
CEO, Smile Train. “We are so proud to have a partner that is as
committed to leveraging technology for humanitarian good as SanDisk.
Working with partners like SanDisk, we look forward to bringing the
power of a smile to millions more children around the world.”
“Knowledge is key for medical professionals in the field, and we are
excited to see our technologies in action, working with Smile Train to
extend their robust network and provide educational reach regardless of
location, availability of electricity or Internet access,” said Gisela
Bushey, director, SanDisk Foundation and community relations, SanDisk.
“As we see every day, technology can have a transformative impact on
people’s lives, and we are proud to partner with Smile Train to support
efforts to help children in need; we look forward to supporting their
great work in the years to come.”
Each day, Smile Train provides free surgery for more than 350 children
worldwide, and in April 2014, celebrated its millionth free cleft repair
surgery. Smile Train uses the “teach a man to fish” model, empowering
local doctors to perform cleft repairs in their own communities, and to
teach and to train other doctors. This creates a long-term, sustainable
system. The SanDisk and Smile Train partnership will strengthen this
model by facilitating information sharing across a global network of
cleft medical personnel who work and train in remote parts of the world,
and by providing resources that these professionals might have barriers
to accessing on their own. The partnership will help expand access to
medical training videos, photos, and documents that in turn will extend
the medical teams’ reach, bringing the power of a smile to even more
children in need.
Using SanDisk Connect™ devices, Smile Train and local doctors can
wirelessly store and share materials across multiple devices, even in
areas where Wi-Fi is not available. This allows them to extend their
network of medical professionals, helping to train even more personnel
and strengthen the cleft care programs.
About Smile Train
Smile Train is an international children’s charity with a sustainable
approach to a single, solvable problem: cleft lip and palate. Millions
of children in developing countries with unrepaired clefts live in
shame, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing and
speaking. Cleft repair surgery is simple, and the transformation is
immediate. Smile Train’s sustainable model provides training and funding
to empower local doctors in 85+ developing countries to provide
100%-free cleft repair surgery in their own communities. 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 the SanDisk Foundation
SanDisk’s mission as a philanthropic company is to support programs and
organizations that address the needs of communities where our company
has a significant presence. SanDisk strives to be an exemplary corporate
citizen within the global community. The SanDisk Foundation, a corporate
advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, helps carry out
this vision by making donations to non-profit organizations and
community groups within our key focus areas: K-12 education, promoting
STEM-focused programs, and children’s health and well-being. Since 2003,
the SanDisk Foundation has awarded more than $25 million to over 1,000
charitable organizations worldwide.
About SanDisk
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company,
is a global leader in flash storage solutions. For more than 25 years,
SanDisk has expanded the possibilities of storage, providing trusted and
innovative products that have transformed the electronics industry.
Today, SanDisk’s quality, state-of-the-art solutions are at the heart of
many of the world's largest data centers, and embedded in advanced
smartphones, tablets and PCs. SanDisk’s consumer products are available
at hundreds of thousands of retail stores worldwide. For more
information, visit www.sandisk.com.
© 2015 SanDisk Corporation. All rights reserved. SanDisk is a trademark
of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other
countries. SanDisk Connect is a trademark of SanDisk Corporation.
Copyright Business Wire 2015