Los Angeles-Based Operation Walk to Honor Bill & Kathy Magee, Co-Founders of Operation Smile, at October 28 Event
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) June 28, 2017 -- In an unprecedented move, Operation Walk, a Los Angeles-based medical humanitarian organization that provides free joint replacement surgeries, will honor another medical humanitarian organization – Operation Smile and its Co-Founders Dr. William P. Magee, Jr. and Kathleen S. Magee -- at Operation Walk’s annual event on October 28 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.
“Operation Smile was our inspiration for Operation Walk,” says Dr. Lawrence D. Dorr, founder of Operation Walk. “We followed the Operation Smile model created by the brilliant leadership of Bill and Kathy Magee to successfully launch Operation Walk.
“Honoring another similar NGO might be unheard of in humanitarian and philanthropic circles, but Bill and Kathy Magee and Operation Smile are our heroes,” Dr. Dorr emphasizes.
Operation Smile, co-founded in 1982 by the Magees, provides reconstructive cleft and facial deformity surgeries for children and young adults. It is one of the oldest and largest volunteer-based organizations dedicated to improving the health and lives of children worldwide through access to surgical care. Founded and based in Virginia, Operation Smile has extended its global reach to more than 60 countries.
“We’re honored to be recognized by Operation Walk. They do incredible work and I’m pleased that they’ve modeled their organization after Operation Smile. We’re incredibly proud of what we do as an organization and we are proud of Operation Walk’s accomplishments,” said Operation Smile President Kathy Magee.
Since founded in 1996, Operation Walk has performed hip and knee replacement surgery for more than 10,000 individuals in Guatemala, Peru, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Mexico, Ecuador, Tanzania, Vietnam, India, Cuba, China, Nepal, the Philippines and the United States. Under Dr. Dorr’s leadership, Operation Walk, based in Los Angeles, has matured into an international organization with 14 chapters in the USA, two in Canada, one in Ireland and one being planned in Denmark.
Bill Magee, D.D.S., M.D., is a plastic and craniofacial surgeon who serves as Operation Smile’s Chief Executive Officer. Kathy Magee, B.S.N., M.Ed., M.S.W., a former nurse and clinical social worker, is president of Operation Smile. The Magees and Operation Smile have received numerous awards and honors including the 1996 Conrad N. Hilton Prize, largest in the humanitarian field, and special recognition from UNICEF in 2007.
Operation Walk follows the Operation Smile program almost identically by using an all-volunteer team, partnerships with in-country hospitals and governments, training of local medical personnel and supplying donated medical supplies and equipment to patients and hospitals.
“Operation Walk and Operation Smile change lives for so many and our work is as thrilling for us as for our patients,” concludes Dr. Dorr.
Elizabeth Valles, Casey Sayre PR, +1 (310) 636-1888, [email protected]
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