SMILE (Students Making Impacts Through Love and Empathy) is an on-campus, community service organization focused on empowering children in the Austin community. We are always looking for new members who hold a passion for impactful community service, find enjoyment working with children and seek a close-knit social group for incoming students to bond and connect.
Every year, we partner with local elementary schools, children’s hospitals, and Austin-area community organizations in order to provide various types of support and assistance. The support and assistance that SMILE provides ranges from emotional support via fun activities, such as play dates for children in extended hospital stays, to logistical assistance for community events, such as helping manage interactive engineering tables at STEM night science fairs.
SMILE’s main volunteering initiative involves fundraising for the annual Brave The Shave pediatric cancer benefit put on by St. Baldrick’s Foundation. SMILE raises money for St Baldrick’s through both pledge donations as well as direct donations, and all money collected goes directly to St. Baldrick’s in order to help support their efforts towards developing a cure for pediatric cancer. Brave the Shave volunteers commit to shaving their heads bare to show of solidarity for people who experienced or are experiencing the effects of pediatric cancer. SMILE’s works with these volunteers to help them meet their individual fundraising goals and in 2018 alone SMILE helped raise between $40,000 and $100,000 in events in the past years.