Once a week during the summer, The Smile Team, a non-medical team of youth, visit the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, both Uptown and Downtown, to spread "smile-i-tis" to veterans. Wearing funny costumes, the volunteers scour the VA to spread their humor therapy, telling jokes, singing songs and playing games. The program started in 2004 by retired RN Myrna Hackett, also known as Nurse Hugs-A-Lot. This year's Smile Team's participants range in age from 14 to 18, and some have been in the program for three years.
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