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Westchester teen raises awareness about fixing cleft lips

Lily Milkis, from Cortlandt Manor, had a cleft lip at birth. The 17-year-old is also a former student ambassador for Smile Train, a nonprofit that raises money to help people from other countries get cleft lip surgery.

News 12 Staff

Jul 26, 2021, 7:18 PM

Updated 1,465 days ago

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A Westchester teen is raising awareness to a fixable birth defect affecting children and adults worldwide.
Lily Milkis, from Cortlandt Manor, had a cleft lip at birth. The 17-year-old is also a former student ambassador for Smile Train, a nonprofit that raises money to help people from other countries get cleft lip surgery.
Milkis had the procedure to correct the condition at 4 months old but says others without insurance or access to medical care aren't so lucky.
"I recognize how lucky I was to get the care I got, and when you look at the statistics of how many people do not have access to the care I did, you can't not do something," says Milkis.
Milkis says she plans to continue her activism and fundraising efforts for Smile Train now that she's in college.