Team EMPOWER is the endurance fundraising branch of Smile Train, an international children’s charity that provides free surgery to poor children suffering from cleft lip and cleft palate. When you sign up do race an event with us, not only do you receive virtual coaching and training tips, fundraising support and inspiration, but also the satisfaction of knowing that you are directly giving a child a new smile and a new life!

Children born with cleft cannot eat or speak properly, aren't allowed to attend school or hold a job and face very difficult lives of shame and isolation, pain and heartache. Some children are even abandoned or killed—all because of the way they look. Their clefts usually go untreated because they are too poor to afford the simple repair surgery that takes as little as 45 minutes and costs as little as $250 dollars. Yet with your help, we can save these children and give them the life changing surgery they both need and deserve.