“When I heard that I could help a child smile for the first time in their life by joining The Smile Train, I put my heart to work and got on board. It’s incredible the number of children’s lives transformed by The Smile Train every day.”
Bette Midler, Entertainer
I’ll never forget the first time I met Bette Midler.
It was backstage before a sold-out concert she was giving at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. She had just started supporting our work at Smile Train and after I thanked her, I told her how much her support meant to us.
I also told her about one of my recent trips to Asia and as I was describing what it was like to see hundreds of desperately poor, disfigured children with unrepaired clefts, who all showed up hoping to get free surgery, she started to cry and then gave me a huge hug.
She really cares.
Since that first fateful encounter, I have seen her many times at other charity dinners including many events for her own terrific charity called The New York Restoration Project which has done incredible work saving green spaces and trees for all New Yorkers.
Believe it or not, this amazing group has planted more than one million trees all over New York City and cleaned up hundreds of junk filled lots and abandonned parks.
Most people don’t know how incredibly generous and philanthropic Bette is.
At one event, I was talking with Better when an over-enthusiastic fan came running up and hugged her so had, she spilled red wine all over Bette’s very expensive, elegant, silk blouse.
Bette was in shock and speechless as she surveyed the damage with her jaw dropping lower and lower.
The fan was absolutely horrified at what she had done and ready to go crawl under a rock!
I couldn’t resist the opportunity to lighten the moment for all of us so I asked, “Bette, pardon me but is that the “wine beneath your wings?”
Thankfully she got a good laugh out of that and raced off for a quick wardrobe change while the fan slinked away!
We were very lucky to have Bette’s support and I was so glad to have the opportunity to meet her and get to know her.
In addition to being a great talent, she is an even greater human being.
