“THE 38th ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY? AWARDS” TO PRESENT THE “DAYTIME CARES” SEGMENT, FEATURING SMILE TRAIN, DURING THE SHOW’S LIVE BROADCAST FROM LAS VEGAS SUNDAY, JUNE 19, ON THE CBS TELEVISION NETWORK

Dean Cain, Erik Estrada and Tatyana Ali to Participate in Segment

 

The Daytime Emmy® Awards will present the “Daytime Cares” segment showcasing Smile Train, the world’s largest cleft repair charity, and featuring Dean Cain, Erik Estrada and Tatyana Ali.  The three stars recently visited a Smile Train center in Mexico to experience firsthand the work that the organization does every day around the world in more than 75 countries.  THE 38th ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY® AWARDS will broadcast live from the Las Vegas Hilton, Sunday, June 19 (8:00-10:00 PM, live ET/delayed PT) on the CBS Television Network.

 

Smile Train’s mission is to empower local medical professionals to provide timely, free, safe, quality and cost-effective cleft treatments for the millions of poor children around the world who suffer from cleft lip and/or palate.  Smile Train has provided more than 655,000 free cleft surgeries since its founding in 1999.  The work that Smile Train does allows a child a second chance at life with a surgery that costs as little as $250 and takes just 45 minutes.

 

Cain, Estrada and Ali spent time with Smile Train doctors, Dr. Rodolfo Trejo and Dr Rafa Ruiz, who devote themselves to forever changing the course of a child’s life.  Additionally, the stars had the opportunity to connect with children who received or were about to receive free surgery provided by Smile Train.  During this visit, they experienced the sorrow and suffering of these children and their families, as well as witnessed the transformation and hope that comes with a cleft repair.

 

According to Smile Train, clefts are a major problem in developing countries where millions of children suffer from unrepaired clefts.  Most cannot eat or speak properly, aren’t allowed to attend school or hold a job, and face very difficult lives filled with shame and isolation, pain and heartache.  Their clefts usually go untreated because they are too poor to pay for a simple surgery that has been around for decades.

 

 

Daytime Cares, a theme of this year’s Daytime Emmy Awards, showcases the compassionate work of the Daytime community, which aids in identifying and exposing humanitarian issues that call attention to societal support.  Portions of the Daytime Cares footage, featuring the Daytime stars, will be presented throughout the broadcast in order to generate awareness.

 

Associated Television International (ATI) will produce the show with ATI President and Emmy Award-winning producer David McKenzie as executive producer, along with Al Schwartz and Jim Romanovich.  Chris Donovan will direct and Ken Shapiro is the writer.

 

The Daytime Emmy Awards recognize outstanding achievement in all fields of daytime television production.  THE 38TH ANNUAL DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS is a presentation of NATAS in cooperation with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

 

About Smile Train

Founded in 1999, Smile Train is the world’s largest cleft charity with more than 2,600 partner surgeons operating in over 1,100 partner hospitals in more than 75 countries-many of which are among the world’s poorest.  Smile Train provides free cleft lip and cleft palate surgery to children from poor families that give a child not just a new smile, but a chance at a new life.  For more information, please go to http://www.smiletrain.org/.