ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Saturday morning’s Great Pumpkin Chase in New Mexico marked the 44th state the Hough family has run a 5K in as part of their “Run 50 Strong” campaign.

They teamed up with the nonprofit Smile Train to run a 5K in every state in 50 days.

“Imagine not being able to smile or being able to breathe properly or eat properly, or being shunned by the community that you’re born into,” Jeremy Hough said. “I mean, those are the impacts on kids born with cleft (palates).”

Smile Train is the world’s largest cleft charity. They offer free cleft surgery and care to kids around the world. It’s something that Jeremy Hough and his family have been through.

“Campbell was born with a cleft lip and palate, and so we’ve struggled as as a family and and she received some of the best care of being born in a military hospital and then having access to the some of the best civilian care in the United States,” Jeremy Hough said of his daughter.

Their run across the country is to raise money and awareness for Smile Train.

“I get to share my story and let other people know that the care that I receive and people like me receive here in the US is not the same in the world, and it’s really important to share that message,” Campbell Hough said.

One in 700 kids is born with a cleft, and the Houghs say they want every child to have the same care that Campbell had.

“I know what it was like to be a mom and to be just wondering if my kid was going to be OK,” said Campbell’s mother, Kelly. “And now we can go. We can we can help others around the world.”

So they loaded the whole family into an RV and took off in September, starting in Alaska.

“I’ve never really been able to be a part of Smile Train as much as I have on this trip, because it’s always like, them going off to like, another country, and like, visiting hospitals there, and I have never been able to go,” daughter Caroline Hough said.

For the Houghs, the running is fun, and the message is important, but so is the quality time together. Jeremy is in the U.S. Air Force stationed in North Carolina, where the family has lived for the last few years.

“It’s just really special to be together as a family, because for so long,” Jeremy Hough said. “I mean, I’m 13, something, deployments and a lot of time away to do this together as a family, is really special.”

For more information on Smile Train and to donate you can go to:

Fundraiser by Jeremy Hough : RUN 50 STRONG – For Smile Train and The Association