Last Year's Highlights

The 2023 Smile Foundation trip was a success. Fourteen team members traveled to Isla Mujeres and X-Can, Mexico to restore smiles to residents. A few highlights of the trip:
Information for this year's trip to Isla...

Dates of Trip: May 14 - May 21

Average Cost Per Person: $1,700.00

Approximate Travel Time: 9.5 hours

Number of People Serving: 21

The 2023 Smile Foundation trip was a success. Fourteen team members traveled to Isla Mujeres and X-Can, Mexico to restore smiles to residents. A few highlights of the trip:

1

We restored smiles to about 340 Mexican residents between the island and the Yucatan.
Child receiving dental care or tooth examination from healthcare provider in clinical setting.
Four adults and one child in yellow shirt smile together indoors, showing thumbs up in casual group photo.
Healthcare worker wearing mask and gloves holds up syringe, promoting Smile Foundation 2021.
Some members of the team pulled their first tooth!
We completed constructions on both our clinics. The X-Can clinic required some finishing touches, such as assembling the bunk beds. The Isla clinic is located in the heart of the island. We painted the optometry room "Sueños" blue which means "dreams" in Spanish. It has been our dream to have a clinic to call our own! Before that dream came true, we were able to "borrow" others' clinics.

2

Young girl holding paintbrush in front of blue wall during art activity indoors.
Interested in using our facilities? Contact us!
Prison cell with bunk beds and metal bars, institutional detention facility interior
People gathered on porch of concrete house during evening, supporting community development project.
Fun Fact: We planted six different fruit plants at our Yucatán location, such as banana, zaramullo, and papaya.
Interested in using our facilities? Contact us!

3

We were able to not only reconnect with residents we have served every year but also make some new friends!
Large group of Smile Foundation volunteers posing together outside blue building headquarters.
Man holding small dog indoors, both smiling at camera in home setting.
Woman wearing pink Smile Foundation shirt with arms outstretched, smiling indoors.
Irma of Isla Mujeres has been volunteering with The Smile Foundation for 12 years!
We took some time after work to explore the areas surrounding our clinic locations. For example, we swam in cenotes (ancient sinkholes) in the Yucatán and snorkeled in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Isla Mujeres.

4

Underground cave with stalactites hanging above turquoise water and limestone formations.

Mexico is famous for its cenotes – natural sinkholes filled with freshwater that have opened up below the earth’s surface.

We took some time after work to explore the areas surrounding our clinic locations. For example, we swam in cenotes (ancient sinkholes) in the Yucatán and snorkeled in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Isla Mujeres.

4

Two people wearing snorkeling masks and life jackets smile at the camera outdoors near water.

Fun Fact: Garrafón reef formation in Isla Mujeres is part of the longest reef in the hemisphere.

We are looking forward to 2024!

Learn more about ways to get involved.
Family holding spotted leopard cub indoors, wearing masks, smiling at camera.