PARAMUS—Have a hearty hot breakfast at Applebee’s on Sunday, Nov. 17, and help someone receive free corrective surgery for cleft lip or cleft palate. Students from the Operation Smile Club at the Academy of Holy Angels invite everyone to this Flapjack Fundraiser, which will have life-changing consequences for patients across the globe.
Student volunteers will serve breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Applebee’s in the Fashion Center located on Ridgewood Avenue in Paramus. Diners will enjoy pancakes, sausage, scrambled eggs, and a beverage (coffee, tea, juice, or soda). Tickets are just $12 each. Contact Operation Smile Club Moderator Laura Kraytem at lkraytem@holyangels.org for tickets and event details.
AHA and Op Smile have a special connection, since this non-profit was established by Holy Angels alumna Kathleen Magee and her husband Dr. William Magee. Op Smile organizes medical missions in multiple countries throughout the world to provide new smiles and better lives for thousands of patients.
Several AHA students have qualified for Op Smile medical missions. This year, one Angel volunteered in China, a second worked in Morocco, and Mrs. Kraytem chaperoned students from another school on their mission to India.
Those who successfully apply for medical mission trips receive special training so they can prepare health and hygiene presentations for the families of children who undergo Op Smile surgeries. Students also spend time interacting with the patients. As they explore the world, Op Smile volunteers make new friends, bring joy and compassion to others, and sometimes awaken their own interest in medial careers.
Founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1879, the Academy of the Holy Angels is the oldest private girls’ school in Bergen County. While AHA is steeped in Catholic tradition, this prestigious high school serves young women from a broad spectrum of cultural and religious backgrounds. Over time, thousands of women have passed through AHA’s portals. Many go on to study at some of the nation’s best universities, earning high-ranking positions in medicine, government, law, education, public service, business, arts, and athletics. The Academy’s current leaders continue to further the SSND mission to provide each student with the tools she needs to reach the fullness of her potential—spiritually, intellectually, socially, and physically, by offering a first-rate education in a nurturing environment where equal importance is placed on academic excellence, character development, moral integrity, and service to others.