Thank you for your consideration of MiCleft - Michigan Cleft Network!
We serve over one hundred families each month, offering our services free of charge.

Through our network, families can benefit from services not limited to: educational material; financial assistance; large referral system; in-home and hospital visitations; personal assistance with feeding and post-operative care; newsletter publications; Angel peer counseling; family/friendship connections; layette packages; members-only community with over twenty free specialty services; and interpersonal events.
(A complete list of services can be found at the 'About Us' page.)

Together, we can bring smiles to many faces!

With your assistance, MiCleft can continue to provide all services free of charge. We value your interest, whether it be volunteering personal time (see volunteer efforts below), helping with office supplies, or donating raffle items. The network is supported entirely by volunteerism, gifts, and contributions. Please help us by making a contribution of $10, $25, $100, or more. You can send items and checks directly to MiCleft by postal mail, or use the online-secure PayPal system to make an electronic tax-deductible contribution. One-time contributions as well as monthly pledges are greatly appreciated and can be in the form of cash, check or major credit card.

Please continue reading to learn about the programs currently in place, services that we are working on, our wishlist, and a layout of the many ways you can support our cause. It can be in the form of monetary contributions, donating items, promoting MiCleft, or by simply continuing your daily activities, but in a way that will help the network!

Sure to Smile sponsorship program:

MiCleft and CSHCS (Childrens Special Health Care Services of Michigan) have joined efforts in providing young individuals born with craniofacial anomalies 'special needs' medical/surgical health insurance. With your help, MiCleft offers financial assistance in the form of directly paying for CSHCS annual insurance premiums, to families that cannot afford adequate surgical coverage. The direct-pay premium coverage is not limited to: 100% coverage of all medical attention associated with the condition(s) - INCLUDING SURGERIES, travel and lodging, prescriptions, medical equipment, home healthcare, and more; without any deductibles or co-pays. Without adequate coverage, life-saving surgeries and medical attention for newborns could total more than $100,000. A typical first-year surgical plan for newborns with facial differences includes Tympanostomy (ear tubes), lip repair, Septoplasty, Rhinoplasty, and Palatoplasty. In addition to surgeries is on-going medical attention, genetic testing, and use of oral prothesis devices. Again, the aforementioned is in relation to the newborn needing typical procedures. It is not representative of children who require more or who are born with other conditions in addition to clefting. Fortunately, CSHCS coverage is based on the individual's needs as a patient, not on individual birth anomalies.
There are several missionary programs in place, that use your $240 donation to provide a one-time lip and palatoplasty repair to children living abroad. Those are excellent programs, but wouldn't it be wonderful, knowing that your donation of $150 provides a year of medical attention and numerous surgeries for a child in your own back yard?
*Your $150 direct-sponsorship donation will provide a child with a full year of CSHCS insurance coverage. MiCleft will of course, provide you with periodic updates on the child(ren) you've sponsored.
*Sure to Smile donations in the amount of $10 - $149 will be combined in effort to raise increments of the $150 yearly premium cost.

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MiCleft WishList:

The cost of providing free services to families affected by craniofacial anomalies adds up quickly. Monthly operational costs are not limited to: website hosting, telephone and toll-free access, office utilities, travel (gasoline, parking) expenses, database management, postage stamps and mail supplies, office equipment and paper/print supplies, and much more. Please help us continue free services by making a $10, $25, $100 or more contribution; or consider offering one or more items from our WishList.

• Postage Stamps and Envelopes (#12 used for literature/brochures, 'padded mailers' for nursers, books and larger items)
• Philanthropy Inventory: post-surgical arm restraints, cleft bottles and nursers, facial tape/adhesive, hearing aides, diapers, formula, and gently-used items such as clothing, baby items, household goods and toys.
• Printing/Office Supplies: white (or colored) cardstock, HP #28 black/white cartridges, HP #27 color cartridges, universal printer paper, business cards - $30/box of 500
• Gasoline Cards and Gift Certificates - to cover professional mileage expenses, provide families with fuel necessary for surgical appointments, and to be used as raffle items during fund-raising events.
• 3-in-1 Printer: for one-source capability of printing, copying and faxing
• Laptop Computer: for professional introductions and website tours, data management, electronic correspondence and network transactions during business travel.
• Fees directly associated with network website management - $35 (billed quarterly) hosting service.
• Sponsoring a MiCleft board member: national retreats, craniofacial seminars, educational conferences, etc. (We'll provide you with a wishlist!)
• General items (and vouchers) to be used for the purpose of selling, raffling, and promotional contests.
• Yarn of all color and texture for the 'Blankets Without Boundaries' service.

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Volunteer Efforts:

Perhaps you are not in a financial position to offer a monetary gift, but want to be involved by donating your time and effort in other ways. MiCleft needs your help in many areas. Your personal involvement can help change lives!

• Earn money for MiCleft by using GoodSearch.com as your internet search engine. GoodSearch will contribute one cent for every search that's generated through their Yahoo search engine, to Michigan Cleft Network! It's as easy as clicking on the GoodSearch logo displayed on several of our network website pages, or by going to GoodSearch.com/?charityid=869215. By including our charityid=869215, all proceeds from your searches will reach MiCleft in a yearly lump sum. If you're using the net, you're sure to use search engines anyway, so why not make them count? Think of the possibilities - 50 MiCleft volunteers performing two searches daily, is equivalent to $30mth/$360yr! That alone can cover a lot of network expenses or better yet, it can cover some office supplies AND award two children with CSHCS insurance coverage!
  If you're still asking yourself how one penny per transaction could possibly help, consider sharing the information with all your friends, co-workers and family members. They'd surely like to help! Don't have the time to tell everyone about it, or are a little intimidated by how to word the email message? We'd be happy to forward some message templates and logos that can be easily sent by mail or uploaded to your blog, website or printed on a flier for distribution.
  
  
• Distribute MiCleft brochures and family literature to your local hospitals, medical professionals, community resource offices, schools, churches, and groups or associations you're a part of. Having MiCleft brochures and business cards on-hand not only opens doors, it leaves a lasting impression. Whether you're at a physician's office, social function, or talking to another parent at the grocery store - informing others is extremely important! If you do not have access to a printer, we will gladly mail brochures to you and your friends. Whether it's a few for personal use or a multi-pack for community distribution - it's NO PROBLEM! Our non-profit organization cannot succeed without your referrals and promotional efforts.
  
  
• Volunteer your personal time at MiCleft group functions and fund-raising events. Whether it be registration table assistance, making announcements, seating participants, or helping with a 50/50 Drawing, Silent Auction or Raffle Table. We are always looking for extra help!
  
  
• Talk to your cleft palate craniofacial team professionals about MiCleft. Ask that they allow a network representative visit, so that we can introduce them to our network and its services. Ask them to distribute MiCleft brochures to new and existing patients, which will ensure a closer patient-surgeon relationship.
  
  
• Hold a small fund-raising activity with your circle of friends and family. Helping can be as easy as donating the hostess gifts earned from home-demonstration (or catalog/book) parties. We've received proceeds from bake sales, Mall Walk-A-Thons, Bottle-Drives, garage sales, craft shows, and other small group activities.
  
  
• Discuss with your local business owners and friends with home-based businesses about donating valuable coupons, free service vouchers, and items of great interest that can be sold or raffled during promotional contests and fund-raising events.
  
  
• Become a MiCleft Angel, offering support to parents of newborns and families that are struggling with craniofacial issues.
  
  
• Ask your local newspaper to write a feature article on people with craniofacial anomalies, and what it's like to live with facial differences. If you like, MiCleft can put editors in contact with individuals in your area that would love to tell their experience.
  
  
• Much like GoodSearch.com, IGive.com will match up to 25% of all on-line purchases made through their website - to MiCleft. You choose MiCleft as your charitable organization, and every purchase makes MiCleft money. IGive.com has contracts with hundreds of famous and private namebrand manufacturers, and well-known retail franchises, such as HomeDepot, Target and CVS. No purchase is too small - it all helps our good cause!