Thirteen year-old Teagan Mabrysmith is combining her love for hockey and passion to help others in her Save-A-Smile campaign to benefit Global Smile Foundation (GSF). Teagan plays goalie for her team, the Hartford Jr. Lady Wolfpack U14-2, and has decided to put her hard work in defending the goal towards raising money to buy a critical piece of diagnostic equipment for GSF to use on mission trips.
In early 2018, Teagan accompanied her mother, Kelly Mabry, on a medical mission to Guayaquil, Ecuador with GSF (see photo, left). Kelly is a speech pathologist who donates her own time to provide treatment for two weeks a year as part of the GSF comprehensive cleft care outreach programs. As part of her work, she conducts speech evaluations for cleft patients. Teagan saw her mother use a nasendoscope to help surgeons determine the best treatment option for each individual. A nasendoscope is a specialized diagnostic tool (see below, right). When Teagan learned that GSF did not own a scope, she was inspired to start her own fundraising effort to purchase this critical instrument, which costs approximately $35,000.
“This is my inspiration for Save-a-Smile. By combining two of my passions, hockey and cleft care, I am hoping to raise $35,000 one save at a time,” Teagan explained. She is asking people to pledge money for each save she makes during the her upcoming 2018-19 season. To learn more about the campaign or make a pledge, visit Teagan’s Save-A-Smile page.