Meet Ava. Ava Perryman is a 2-year old little girl from Louisville who lacks the ability to smile. When she was just 3 months old, Ava sustained nerve damage during a surgery to remove a facial tumor, paralyzing the left side of her face. JAMfest, HOOPS and the Louisville community teamed up on October 28, 2007 with an event called, The Smile JAM, to help Ava prevent any further medical issues and to give her a beautiful smile!

This day was filled with fun, laughter and hope for all those involved…especially Ava Perryman. The goal of The Smile JAM was simple...to raise as much money as possible to assist Ava with her medical expenses. Funds were raised many different ways including generous spectators giving donations of $5 or more at the door (some people gave $100!), a silent auction which included several items which brought $100 to $325 each and the hundreds of official "I Helped Ava" souvenir t-shirts which were sold for $10 each. Several of our cheer and dance participants raised money themselves prior to the event and delivered donations of $50 to $500 that day upon arrival.  WOW!

The Smile JAM was a HUGE success! JAMfest is proud to say that we exceeded our goal of $10,000 by a long way.  In fact, OVER $25,000 was brought in that day, and 100% of these proceeds went directly to the Ava Perryman Medical Fund. Thanks for your support...we made a difference in Ava's life forever!

Click on the information below to read and hear more about The Smile JAM!