Save the Date: The Moodie Davitt Smile Raising Charity Dinner : Moodie Davitt Report

“Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love” — Mother Teresa

SINGAPORE. The Moodie Davitt Report is to host a charity dinner in Singapore on Saturday 6 May to raise funds for international cleft charity Smile Train. The dinner will be held on the eve of the TFWA Asia Pacific show.

The Smile Raising Charity Dinner event marks our 21^st year in business and our fourth charity dinner to be held in Asia. Previous events in Hong Kong (2007 and 2012) and Singapore (2019) have raised almost US$1 million collectively for the nominated charities.

Smile Train has been among The Moodie Davitt Report’s preferred charities since 2007 when the Hong Kong gala dinner raised over US$300,000 for the cause.

Over the past 15 years, we have helped generate more than US$2.5 million for Smile Train through our own donations (including from The Virtual Travel Retail Expo and The Trinity Forum), charity dinners, the ‘Miles for Smiles’ fun runs in Dubai and even a world-record, highest altitude rock gig at the Summit of Mount Kilimanjaro called The Chasing Rainbows Tour (see video below).

It is estimated that some 170,000 babies in the developing world are born every year with cleft lips and/or palates. US$250 funds the cost of the simple 45-minute cleft surgery that transforms the life of a child – and that of their families.

Features and lives transformed: Smile Train’s work has a profound effect on children who would otherwise live a life of shame{Click on the YouTube icon to view footage of The Moodie Davitt Report’s ‘Duty Calls’ dinner in 2019 which raised more than US$260,000 for Friends-International}

Unforgettable: Jewel Changi Airport was the magnificent backdrop for the 2019 event, courtesy of the support of the Changi Airport Group team (pictured below with guests).

The Moodie Davitt Report Founder & Chairman Martin Moodie said, “I can think of no better way to celebrate our 21^st anniversary than to dedicate an event to a wonderful cause that has been close to our heart and that of the travel retail industry for the past decade and a half.

“Over the past 20 years, Smile Train has transformed the lives of more than 1.5 million children, and I am proud that the travel retail community has played such an important part. Smile Train aims to double its reach in the next five years, putting more children than ever before on track to a better future.

“As part of the hospitality industry, the travel retail sector knows the incalculable value of a smile. Let us together bring many more smiles to the faces of childen who are today suffering from clefts and often live their lives marred by rejection and shame.

“Anyone who has visited a Smile Train cleft ward, as I have on several occasions, cannot help but be deeply moved by the beautiful simplicity of their work. That so many cleft children are left untreated in emergent countries is a stain on humanity and we are passionate about continuing our support for this outstanding organisation.

“We plan to raise not only funds but also critical visibility for Smile Train. I will be visiting Smile Train clinics in Asia to report on the organisation’s work and our editorial team will be providing regular coverage of Smile Train’s life-changing programmes.”

July 2007 and Martin Moodie meets Anji, a little boy who was about to be operated on by the Smile Train team at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad, India. “He had eyes as deep as the Indian sub-continent and a smile as wide as Hyderabad – especially when I suggested he would one day play cricket for India,” Moodie wrote. The transformation from the surgery (below) was extraordinary.

{Click on the YouTube icon to watch the inspirational story of Wang Li, China’s first Smile Train patient}

Wang Li pictured in 2021 at home with family – husband, son and mother. Her son is called Xiao, or ‘Smile’.

Flashback to 2007 when Wang Li made a surprise guest appearance at The Moodie Report/Hugo Boss Smile Train fundraiser in Hong Kong.“I will always try to help other children with clefts, who cry themselves to sleep every night like I did for nine years,” she told a hushed audience. “I always wanted to play with kids my age but didn’t dare. I was afraid they’d laugh at me. When they gave me a mirror after surgery I saw a different person looking back at me. A smiling person. I think that was the first time I ever smiled. Since then I have not stopped smiling.”

Details of the 2023 venue and table booking registrations will be announced soon. The Moodie Davitt Report is also seeking high-value auction prizes from the travel retail community. Please contact The Moodie Davitt Report Asia Bureau Chief and Head of Marketing & Events Jeannie Wong at Jeannie@MoodieDavittReport.com or Martin Moodie at Martin@MoodieDavittReport.com if you would like to donate or with any enquiries.

In 2007, The Moodie Davitt Report partnered with Hugo Boss in hosting a Charity Dinner on behalf of cleft charity Smile Train, which raised US$346,000.

And in 2012, The Moodie Davitt Report hosted a 10th Anniversary Ball, raising around US$375,000 funds for two causes: travel retail charity Hand in Hand for Haiti and The Moodie Report Foundation dedicated to supporting cancer research.

Flashback to 2012 as The Moodie Davitt Report celebrated a decade in business by raising money for two vital causes

Thanks to the support of DFS Group, the Hotel Icon kindly donated its facilities free of charge for the evening

Hand in Hand for Haiti: Guests saw a poignant video of the travel retail industry-funded school in Haiti introduced by then-DFS Group Chief Operating Officer Michael Schriver (now LVMH Group President North Asia)

Memories of 2007 as TFWA President Erik Juul-Mortensen makes a generous €25,000 donation on behalf of the association to the Turning Tears into Smiles cause. Accepting the cheque are Nadine Heubel, then Head of Travel Retail at Hugo Boss (now Senior Managing Director with Harper Dennis Hobbs) and Martin Moodie.

About Smile Train

Smile Train is the world’s largest cleft-focused organisation, with a sustainable and local model of supporting surgery and other forms of essential care. Over the last 20+ years, it has supported safe and quality cleft care for 1.5+ million children and will continue to do so until every child in need with a cleft has access to the care they deserve.

‘Teach a man to fish’ principle

Donations sustain world-class training programme that empower locally based medical professionals in 70+ countries to treat cleft patients with life-changing, high-quality care.

This is a key difference from mission-based models: Smile Train supports local medical professionals and local hospitals – it’s how the organisation builds up healthcare infrastructure around the world while providing care 365 days a year.

Beyond surgery, Smile Train’s local partners also provide speech therapy, psychological support, nutritional services, orthodontics, and other essential forms of care to ensure that children with clefts have everything they need to not just live but thrive.

“Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love” — Mother Teresa

About Smile Train

‘Teach a man to fish’ principle

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