The Trinity Forum – Smile Train
Delivering life-changing smiles at The Trinity Forum
The life-changing work of Smile Train was vibrantly amplified at The Trinity Forum Gala Dinner on 6 November, with a remarkable US$118,500 raised to support the cleft charity.
The auction was superbly organised by IPP Travel Retail Chief Executive Phillip Nguyen and brilliantly conducted by auctioneer Barry Geoghegan of Duty Free Global – with the funds collected enough to restore the smiles of more than 450 children.
A memorable, magnificent highlight of the evening was a performance by prodigiously talented ten-year-old violinist Minh Ho.
Not only did he deliver a virtuoso performance but the young boy lent poignant and powerful emotional impetus to the evening’s fundraising auction.
For as guests discovered, Minh Ho was born with a cleft lip in 2014, the disfigurement later treated at a Smile Train partner hospital in Vietnam. His condition and the subsequent medical attention he received to correct it didn’t stop him from pursuing an early, innate love of music.
Minh Ho started playing the violin at the age of three and is now a first-year student at the acclaimed Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory of Music.
This wonderfully talented young musician won the hearts of everyone in the room as he explained shyly but in perfect English how Smile Train had fixed his cleft and enabled him to smile – enriching a wonderful evening for all who were there.
Young maestro Minh Hõ, who received life-changing cleft treatment from Smile Train, delighted The Trinity Forum 2024 guests with a riveting violin performance that received a standing ovation
IPP Travel Retail Chief Executive Phillip Nguyen (right) and Duty Free Global Founder & auctioneer extraordinaire Barry Geoghegan kick off proceedings as travel retail dug deep to support Smile Train
Alex Cook (second from left), Managing Partner at leading travel retail agency WePurple, takes to the stage after making a winning bid. He is pictured with (from left) Barry Geoghegan, Phillip Nguyen and Smile Train Senior Vice President, Philanthropy and Ambassador Development Tory Reinhart. Below, Travel Food Services CEO Varun Kapur lends his support to the fundraising effort.
The Moodie Davitt eZine
Issue 341 | 4 December 2024
The Moodie Davitt eZine is published 14 times per year by The Moodie Davitt Report (MA Travel Retail). © All material is copyright and cannot be reproduced without the permission of the Publisher. To find out more visit www.moodiedavittreport.com and to subscribe, please e-mail kristyn@moodiedavittreport.com