WrestlingGear.Com

By CATHRYN GRAN Staff Writer

cgran@pioneerlocal.com

Jeff Pape can't imagine his son going through life with an easily-remedied condition.

"Jackson, who's 3 now, was born with a cleft lip," explained Pape, a business owner and member of the Franklin Park Rotary and the Franklin Park/Schiller Park Chamber of Commerce.

"We were lucky," he said. "My wife, Nancy, was working for a Fortune 500 company so we had good insurance. All we had to pay was the deductible."

That surgery can cost thousands of dollars.

"You wouldn't notice it now, but when Jackson was a year old, he had a fat lip," Pape said. "But the scar has healed. It's hard to notice."

Through Jackson's doctor, the Papes learned of an organization that helps families that are not as fortunate as they are.

"The Smile Train operates on the 'teach a man to fish' theory," Pape explained. "They give instruction to local doctors who then go to the patients. These are families without means of transportation."

The Smile Train is a nonprofit organization that provides services and programs in more than 60 countries, including the United States, and has helped provide free surgery for thousands of children as well as free training and education for more than 15,000 surgeons and medical professionals, according to information provided by the organization. During the month of May, Pape, a Schaumburg resident who owns Wrestlinggear.com, is dedicating a portion of his sales to the organization.

"Smile train teaches doctors," he explained. "They really focus on educating doctors instead of going there for a couple of weeks and leaving.

"Each surgery costs about $250," he continued. "There is no overhead. Grants and funds from the Board of Directors covers the administrative costs, with 100 percent of the donations going to help kids.

"Last year, through all our fundraiser events and our wrestling clinic held in the fall, we raised over $5,000 for the Smile Train," he noted. "That works out to about 20 children we were able to help.

"I can't imagine my kid not being able to have that surgery," he said. "It affects the child mentally. They're shunned. They can't to go to school, so they don't get any kind of an education."

According to the organization, every single child with a cleft can be helped with surgery that takes as little as 45 minutes. Since March 2000, the group has provided free cleft surgery for 225,343 children.

"It's amazing what the Smile Train does," Pape noted. "And to think there are kids out there who can't afford to get this fixed."

Those who want to donate may send a check payable to the Smile Train to Wrestlinggear.com at 655 W. Grand Ave., Elmhurst, IL 61026.

Additional information about the Smile Train is available by visiting www.smiletrain.org.

Article appeared in the May 16th edition of the Franklin Park Pioneer Press. You can visit their website at www.pioneerlocal.com