Operation Smile to Honor Kevin Beggs, Randy Sherman and Kate Walsh at 2013 Smile Gala

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Operation Smile, an international children's medical charity, will honor Kevin Beggs, Chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group; Randy Sherman, M.D., F.A.C.S., Vice-chair of the Department of Surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; and actress Kate Walsh at its 2013 Smile Gala, September 27, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Smile Ambassador Brooke Burke-Charvet will host; and Stephanie Argyros, David Charvet, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett, Krista Jajonie, Sue Naegle, Jennifer and Henry Salke, and Daneia Sanadiki co-chair.  Singer and actress Sasha Allen and DJ Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys will perform.   The Smile Gala raises funds to provide hope and healthy futures for children worldwide.  Visit www.operationsmile.org/lagala  

Operation Smile's John Connor Humanitarian Award will be presented to Kevin Beggs, recently promoted to Chairman of the Lionsgate Television Group.  Beggs' adopted brother, Estuardo, was born with a cleft lip and he saw firsthand how corrective surgery gave his brother the ability to eat, speak and smile without fear of ridicule or rejection.  Beggs oversees development and production of all Lionsgate scripted and non-scripted programming.

Randy Sherman, M.D., F.A.C.S. will be honored with the Wallis Annenberg Public Service Award.  Randy has been a volunteer surgeon with Operation Smile for 25 years and has served as the organization's Chief Medical Officer since 2007.   He has participated in and led over 50 medical missions to a majority of Operation Smile's partner countries.  

The Universal Smile Award will be presented to actress Kate Walsh.  Walsh has participated in Operations Smile's annual Park City ski event for the past two years, which has raised money to provide life-changing surgery for over 2,000 children.  She personally spearheaded a holiday campaign to raise donations for Operation Smile and matched the first ten surgeries raised.

Operation Smile, headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, is an international children's medical charity with a presence in more than 60 countries, whose network of 5,400 medical volunteers from 80 countries is dedicated to helping improve the health and lives of children. Since 1982, Operation Smile has provided more than 3.8 million healthcare evaluations and conducted over 200,000 free surgical procedures for children and young adults born with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.

For information, please visit www.operationsmile.org, www.twitter.com/operationsmile, and www.facebook.com/operationsmile. 

SOURCE Operation Smile