Providence man raises awareness of cleft lip by running a 5-K every day in July

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – A Providence man is recognizing Craniofacial Awareness Month this July by running not just one 5-K, but a months worth of 5-K’s.

Manny Ventura was born with a cleft lip and needed five surgeries on his face to repair his smile.

He is now raising awareness for the condition by running a 5-K every day during the month of July.

Manny also has a Go Fund Me account setup. It’s called “Save a Smile.” The fund has already raised over $3 thousand dollars for children born with cleft and craniofacial differences.

Ventura said, “This campaign is so personal to me and I just said I have to do what I can do to really help kids get this awareness out that we are born with a cleft but we are special and we are powerful and we’re just great people.”

Manny said he wasn’t a runner prior to coming up with his 5-K every day idea, but he hopes to continue running after his fundraising concludes.