Operation Smile
Former resident works with youths suffering from facial deformities

Joyce Smith, a former Lampasas resident, is a volunteer for Operation Smile, a program that provides free surgery to youths in developing countries who suffer from a variety of facial deformities.

Hanna Springs Intermediate School students learned about a program that helps other children around the globe when Joyce Smith, a former Lampasas resident and volunteer for Operation Smile, spoke about the program recently.

Operation Smile, headquartered in Virginia, is a worldwide children's medical charity that launched in the Philippines in 1982 with a group of medical volunteers to repair children's cleft lips and cleft palates.

The program supports international and local, incountry medical missions to 25 countries.

Operation Smile has treated more than 100,000 children and young adults by thousands of volunteers and health-care professionals globally.

Last year, free surgeries were provided to nearly 10,000 children who suffered from facial deformities.

Operation Smile's partner countries include Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gaza Strip/West Bank, Honduras, India, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Morocco, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Thailand, Venezuela and Vietnam.

Joyce Smith shared details of Operation Smile with students at Hanna Springs Intermediate School.

Operation Smile volunteers, along with repairing facial deformities, build public and private partnerships that advocate for sustainable health-care systems for children and families.

Mrs. Smith is the sister of Vickie McQueen, whose husband, Joey, is Lampasas ISD's athletic director.

Mrs. Smith, a former teacher, lived in Lampasas for eight years where she taught seventh and eighth-grade social studies.

She also worked on the Spring Ho Committee, and her children, George William Smith and Melissa Smith Means graduated from Lampasas High School.

In 1984, Mrs. Smith taught social studies/sociology for the Department of Defense in Korea. After completing a master's degree in counseling, she moved to Alaska.

Nancy Yeary, left, Hanna Springs Intermediate School principal, presents a check to Joyce Smith, a volunteer for Operation Smile. Funds, donated by school personnel in honor of the sixth-grade class, will be used in the program that assists with medical needs of children.

The family returned to Texas and Mrs. Smith was a counselor at Ballinger until her retirement in 2002.

Her love of working with children led her to Operation Smile and working with them in developing countries.

In 2004, she was sent to Africa to keep medical records and to interview parents and patients, and in 2005, Mrs. Smith went to China. In 2006, Cambodia was the next stop, followed by Bolivia in 2007, ending in Jordan as a student sponsor.

Most recently, Mrs. Smith was in Lampasas to speak to students on the 25th anniversary of Operation Smile. "Hopefully I can teach them about the importance of helping others in different cultures."

Mrs. Smith lives on a ranch in Coleman, and when she's not on a mission or feeding her numerous animals, she spends time visiting her four grandchildren.

A youth is shown prior to her facial surgery, left, and after a successful operation to remove the deformity.

To make a donation to Operation Smile, send funds to 6435 Tidewater Dr., Norfolk, VA 23509, or by phone at (888) 677- 6453. Donations also can be made online at www. operationsmile.org/help/donate.

For program information, visit www.operationsmile.org.