Helping Others, One Smile At A Time

Julia Decker is on a mission — a mission to help others like her. Born in China with a bilateral cleft lip and palate, Julia lived in an orphanage for the first three and a half years of her life.

An anonymous donor sponsored her lip surgery, which she feels was a catalyst to her getting adopted. “If I had not received this amazing gift, I might still be living in an orphanage and not with my amazing family.” Julia is now dedicated to helping other children born into the same circumstances.

Currently, Julia is a high school junior, living with her family in New Jersey. At just twelve years old, she began selling bracelets and candy at local sporting events to raise donation money. Her efforts raised $1,600. These funds, combined with donations made on our TeamLWB webpage, sponsored surgeries for Omar and Ray, who were living in Chinese orphanages.

Julia didn’t stop there. She has continued to raise money for her Smile Project and, after reaching her initial goal of $3,000, has challenged herself even more by increasing her target to $5,000. “I want to sponsor and raise as much money as I can to help as many kids as I can.”

LWB is thrilled to be partnering with Julia to make those goals a reality. She tells us, “I am so thankful that I found an organization that really connected with me and the project that I wanted. They give me regular updates, and it is amazing because I can actually see what is happening and where my money is going.”

Julia credits her cleft repair surgery with getting her out of the orphanage and into a loving home. She hopes to give other children the same opportunity. “I want children to be happy, have a smile, and be nurtured. If surgery is going to be the first step for adoption, that would be awesome.”

• Support Julia’s fundraiser — The Smile Project

Back to Blog