Children’s Hospital of Georgia to celebrate Craniofacial Acceptance Month with picnic

The Children’s Hospital of Georgia will participate with the Children’s Craniofacial Association (CCA) in their national picnic day, Saturday, Sept. 28, to celebrate Craniofacial Acceptance Month.

The event, which is open to everyone, is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Creighton Park in North Augusta. Those planning to attend are encouraged to bring their own blankets and food.

The CCA is a national nonprofit headquartered in Dallas that was founded in 1989. It has worked for over 30 years toward the vision of a world where all people are accepted for who they are, not how they look.

Cleft and craniofacial conditions affect thousands in the United States each year. Some are born with congenital anomalies like cleft lip and palate, while others have more life-threatening craniofacial conditions. AU Health’s Craniofacial Center, one of only two in Georgia, was approved again early this summer by the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association as teams the ACPA encourages patients and families to consider first for cleft and craniofacial health care needs.

“The CCA’s event hashtag is #OwnYourStory and this is so true for all of us,” said Mary Ellen DeLoach, a registered nurse who works in the Department of Adult/Pediatric Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at Augusta University Medical Center.

“We are who we are today because of yesterday’s journey, yesterday’s words and looks and yesterday’s actions and inactions. As Maya Angelou once said, ‘… people will never forget how you made them feel.’”