Virginia Beach will soon have more dolphin sightings, but these playful marine mammals won’t be frolicking in the water. They will be on land decorating schools, businesses and other Hampton Roads locations.

The life-size dolphin sculptures are part of a fundraising initiative called “A Dolphin’s Promise.”

Faculty and students from First Colonial High School's Operation Smile Club pose in front of First Colonial’s painted dolphin. The dolphin was a gift to the class of 2020 and is part of Operation Smile’s fundraising initiative called “A Dolphin’s Promise.” Lee Belote/freelance

“A Dolphin’s Promise” was started in 2006 by Virginia Beach native Cindy Graf, in an effort to raise money for cancer research by distributing fiberglass dolphin statues to Virginia Beach residents and businesses. In 2020, Graf passed the torch to Operation Smile to adopt this project.

The decorative dolphins have a new promise and purpose. Proceeds now will fund surgeries for children in developing countries with cleft conditions. Also, a portion of each donation will go toward providing scholarships to students and educators who would not be able to afford participation in Operation Smile medical missions and leadership conferences.

A Promise Dolphin is given to businesses and individuals when they make a donation of $5,000 to Operation Smile. Schools are given a dolphin for $2,500.

Coastal Fiberglass, Ferguson and United Sheet Metal partnered with Operation Smile to help cover the cost of the dolphin statues.

Brigette Clifford, Operation Smile’s director of strategic initiatives, student programs, said the idea of the iconic dolphin statues began during the COVID-19 pandemic when students were away from school. Clifford said Operation Smile was looking for a meaningful way to honor the 2020 graduating class.

“With Cindy’s blessing, we were able to bring the dolphins back to the beach with a new purpose,” Clifford said. “The name Dolphin’s Promise resonated with us, so we kept the same name. Our promise to build young leaders from Hampton Roads to be more dolphin-like, peace minded, protectors and community centric, as well as bringing dignity to lives of children with clefts worldwide, is our mission and responsibility.”

Since launching the initiative, student clubs at First Colonial, Cox and Princess Anne high schools honored their 2020 graduating classes with a custom dolphin statue. The statues were completed by August 2020.

The Operation Smile Club at First Colonial raised money for their dolphin in one month through a Venmo challenge they promoted on social media. Grace Payne, a 2020 First Colonial graduate, designed the dolphin.

She said she wanted to represent the “real beach school,” so she used images of waves, sea life and the Cape Henry lighthouse. She also incorporated words that paid tribute to the experience of the class of 2020, such as unpredictable and memorable.

“It could be appreciated by all the students as a testament to the strength of the faculty and students at First Colonial during this difficult time,” Payne said.

Alison Davalle, First Colonial High School art teacher, said working on the dolphin was an amazing experience.

“Watching it go from a blank space to a piece of art that expressed what the seniors felt during their time at FC was transformative in a physical and spiritual sense,” Davalle said.

Other school dolphins are in the works, and Operation Smile is building a roster of local artists to collaborate with donors to decorate the Promise Dolphins. Also, they’re looking for artists who would like to volunteer and mentor student artists.

Email adolphinspromise@operationsmile.org to get involved.