Balsam Hill and Operation Smile announced the #CelebritiesforSmiles campaign that auctioned off ornaments autographed by celebrities to help children in need.

Balsam Hill, an online retailer of Christmas home décor products, and Operation Smile, an international medical operation that serves children, collaborated to help raise money for children and families in need of medical help.

Operation smile is a nonprofit medical service organization based in Virginia Beach that works to reduce the occurrence of cleft lips and palates worldwide. The organization operates in more than 60 countries and has an international network of thousands of medical volunteers from more than 80 countries to help the lives of children.

The organization also raises awareness of cleft issues and organizes student programs worldwide to promote leadership, commitment and volunteerism values across many young lives. Operation smile also donates medical resources and provides continuous treatment for family and children in need of medical services.

The campaign auctioned ornaments signed by celebrities from the fashion industry to the sports industry. The auction started on December 9 and lasted until December 16.

“It is such a pleasure to partner with Balsam Hill because they are incredibly motivated and dedicated to helping give smiles to these children around the world,” said Dr. Bill Magee, CEO and Co-Founder of Operation Smile.

Before the campaign took off, Hill pledged $25,000 to Operation Smile and donated ornaments from one of their high-quality décor collections. More than 30 donated holiday ornaments autographed by well-known celebrities inducing Adam Levine, Mark Wahlberg, Kate Walsh and the entire cast of Days Of Our Lives were auctioned online beginning December 9. All the proceeds from the sales of the ornaments were donated to Operation Smile.

The campaign quickly caught attention as the #CelebritiesforSmiles campaign was trending on popular social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. Updates from the campaign also appeared on Balsam Hill’s Facebook page that has more than 27,000 followers.

To date, Operation Smile has provided over 220,000 free surgical treatments to children around the world from families who cannot afford it.

– Sandy Phan

Sources: Operation Smile, Balsam Hill