“Days of our Lives” has been on fire lately with a plethora of steamy fall storylines, and something exciting has happened behind the scenes, as well: The show’s executive producer, Ken Corday, was awarded Operation Smile’s John Connor Humanitarian Award!

During a gala held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Friday, September 19, the international children’s charity honored the exec with the coveted award. Says Corday of his involvement with the organization, which provides free surgery for children worldwide suffering from facial deformities, to heal their smiles and transform their lives: “It was brought to my attention by Jennifer Salke, who’s the president of NBC television. She just rang me up and said, ‘This is what we’re doing, what do you think?’ And I said, ‘I’m in.’ It was that simple. And that was four or five years ago. And since then, I’ve been a silent benefactor behind stage right, stage left, not in the camera’s eyes, and now I feel more challenged to actually go on a mission and try to do what I can as opposed to just being a humanitarian.”

As for whether or not Corday plans to bring this very important issue to the “DAYS” screen remains to be seen. “Very tough question,” he says. “I can’t answer that, because my headwriters aren’t here, and I won’t speak for my headwriters. It would be a wonderful story, but it would have to be done correctly and carefully. So stay tuned!”

“DAYS” castmembers Jen Lilley (Theresa Donovan), James Reynolds (Abe Carver), Deidre Hall (Marlena Evans), Kristian Alfonso (Hope Brady) and Suzanne Rogers (Maggie Horton) attended the event in support of their executive producer.

For more information on Operation Smile, check out the charity’s official website.