This fall, Sweet Briar’s business management lab is planning several fundraisers in support of Operation Smile, a non-profit organization that, according to its Web site, is “changing lives one smile at a time.”

Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., Operation Smile is a medical charity that corrects facial deformities, particularly cleft lips and palates, in children all over the world. Last year alone, its volunteers performed 10,868 surgeries in 51 countries.

Each semester at Sweet Briar, business management lab students gain real-world experience planning events to benefit a charity. Past beneficiaries have included Habitat For Humanity, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Guided by their teaching assistants and visiting assistant professor of business Tom Loftus, the lab students are required to take on all aspects of event organizing, from accounting to marketing. The students, in groups of four, also will submit a formal report at the end of the semester about their event.

Plans are currently under way for three events: Pie-a-Senior on Oct. 8; a benefit concert, Rockin’ for the Smile, on Nov. 6; and a dining hall fast on Nov. 19.

All money raised, after expenses, will be donated to Operation Smile.