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>> FAMILY TIES
Smiles All Around A Young Girl’s Passion for Giving Back
BY COURTNEY LINDWALL he family first saw Braiden’s cleft lip in the sonogram — his round lips left unjoined on what was otherwise a healthy baby boy. “My parents told me that he’s not going to look like other babies,” said Jordan Thorpe, Braiden’s older cousin. His parents, Jamie and Drake North, rushed to understand the rare birth defect of their second child. How was it caused? What can we do? Born in May 2007, Braiden, thankfully, was without a smile only until August, when corrective surgery re-joined his lip. Today, six-year-old Braiden is left with just a thin scar. But the emotional impact of her
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little cousin’s cleft lip stuck with Jordan, then 8. She realized not every family could afford such a happy ending. The experience set Jordan, now 15, down a path of giving to the cause. She has since built a successful nonprofit, The Smile Team, that has raised more than $21,000 to fix 85 smiles. Jordan, a ninth-grader at Oak Hall School and the oldest of three sisters, speaks passionately about her work. Animated and articulate for her age, she tells the story of how she first started donating. Her family would give money to cover one child’s procedure ($250) each year in honor of Braiden’s birthday. But in 2009, Jordan decided she would give some of her
own money, as well. Because it is expensive to fix a cleft lip or palate, Jordan soon realized that motivating friends and family to donate could make a difference in many children’s lives — especially those in thirdworld countries who could not afford the surgery. She reached out to her congregation at Trinity United Methodist Church, through the church’s garage sale or the Palm Sunday service, telling them about cleft lips and palates. Thousands of dollars were donated and dozens of smiles were fixed. “I was asking relatives for donations instead of Christmas presents,” Jordan said.