Kylie Jenner’s cleft palate charity of choice has come under fire for mailing letters comparing cleft-affected children to Halloween monsters.
Smile Train sent a letter to families asking for donations, which said: ‘What if every day felt like Halloween?’ next to a picture of a child with a cleft lip, adding: ‘You have the power to end their nightmare!’
Parents across the US are slamming the organization for suggesting that children born with the disfigurements look like Halloween horrors.
One mother in Texas whose son was born with a cleft lip and palate said that her family has already donated $10,000 to Smile Train but that they will no longer support the charity after receiving the letter.
Smile Train sent this letter to families comparing children with cleft palates to Halloween costumes. A mother shared a photo of the letter, exclaiming: ‘my daughter is not a monster’
Kylie Jenner is pictured here in Peru in May 2016 with Mia, a child that Smile Train funded corrective surgery for
Kristen Carr, pictured here with her cleft-affected son, wrote on Facebook that parents such as herself love their kids’ smiles regardless of their disfigurement
Kristen Carr, from Texas, has a three-year-old son who was born with a cleft lip and palate, and she wrote on Facebook that her family has been generous to Smile Train.
In addition to the thousands of dollars they have donated, Carr said she has asked her friends to support the charity each year.
She wrote: ‘Every Christmas, we have asked our friends and relatives (and their respective employers) to make donations to SmileTrain in lieu of presents, and they have been extraordinarily generous.’
But Carr said the Halloween letter she received from Smile Train was enough to convince her to stop donating to them.
Carr said in her Facebook post that Smile Train’s letters were unforgivable
Jess O’Connell (left) has a two-year-old daughter, Olivia (right), who was born cleft-affected. O’Connell wrote on Facebook that the letters from Smile Train were ‘heartbreaking and infuriating’
Her post said: ‘This is a representation of your sentiments toward cleft-affected children, and you will not receive another donated penny from us.’
She also said parents of children with the condition have unconditional love for their children regardless of their disfigurements. Carr added that she hoped her post alerted these mothers to the insensitivity of Smile Train.
‘I am not going to waste my time explaining that every single parent of a cleft-affected child falls head over heels in love with their child’s original “wide smile”,’ she wrote.
‘Instead, I’ll just share this post with a group of over 9000 moms of cleft-affected kids, and they can tell you their stories for themselves.’
Jess O’Connell, a mother in Colorado whose daughter was born cleft-affected, took to Facebook saying that she too would refuse to support the charity now.
‘This is heartbreaking and infuriating. As someone who once supported Smile Train, I am formally revoking my support and I encourage you to as well. My daughter is not a monster. Her cleft is not a nightmare,’ she wrote.
Carr said she will no longer financially support Smile Train
O’Connell wrote in a subsequent comment: ‘I have no idea why they thought this was a good idea.’
She told DailyMail.com: ‘I was disappointed and angry that a charity I trusted would portray cleft-affected people that way, that they would perpetuate the stigma the cleft community fights so hard to break just for financial gain.’
O’Connell used to donate money to Smile Train, but she will contribute her funds to other charities now, she said.
‘The mailer slashed that. I’ll donate to other charities that are more sensitive to the community they serve.’
Carr said in her Facebook post: ‘To be clear, this isn’t the kind of “mistake” that an apology can fix. It’s not a spelling error. Many, many people in your organization saw and approved this mailing before it was sent.’
Smile Train’s CEO Susannah Schaefer issued a statement in response to the letters, which said: ‘We are truly sorry that the mailing was offensive and hurtful, and we understand the reaction it caused.’
The statement continued: ‘It was never our intent to adversely depict the very children that we are dedicated to helping. Our intent was solely to help children with cleft lip and/or palate live healthy and happy lives.’
About 2,650 children in the US are born with cleft palates each year, and about 4,440 children are born with a cleft lip, according to the CDC.
Smile Train raises funds for the 170,000 children born with cleft palates in developing countries annually who cannot afford corrective surgeries. Operations to treat cleft palates typically cost about $5,000 at the least.