On December 8th, 2022, nearly 200 members of the myFace Family gathered for our holiday party, including children with craniofacial conditions and their families, medical and dental students, staff, our Board of Trustees, and of course, Santa! It was such a heartfelt community event, and we are so thankful to everyone who helped make the night so special. Like our friends Nikki and Ben Kaufman – parents of a child with a craniofacial condition – who generously let myFace host our party at their Manhattan CAMP store and provided fun arts and crafts activities in their fabulous Splatter Room and Spin Art Rooms. Partygoers also enjoyed face painting and balloon art, a fantastic meal catered by Michael Muoio of Villa Rustica Pizzeria and Trattoria (who also has a child with a facial difference), and wonderful gifts for each child to take home.

⁠The generosity of the myFace community extended to the gifts themselves – and even to their wrapping! Thank you to Massimo Sheinin, a 14-year-old from New Jersey born with a cleft lip,⁠ NYU Medical Sofia Perez Otero, and myFace’s own Director of Family Programs, Dina Zuckerberg. Your toy drives ensured that this past holiday season was extra special for children with facial differences. And thank you to the amazing volunteers who helped us wrap the gifts with such love – students from NYU Dental School, members of the  Oral Maxillofacial Surgery Society,  fellow nonprofit UNITY SME, and the CARES Committee at The Kips Bay Towers (which is where myFace’s offices are located)!

Photos: Reiko Yanagi, Steven Speliotis