“In elementary school, my best friend, Kale, was in a wheelchair and I didn’t know why,” said Bailey Walter, of North Tonawanda, New York. “It took me a long time to ask about it, but in fourth grade I talked to his mom and found out he was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at 18 months old.” Bailey told her mom she wanted to help Kale. Her goal? For them to dance together by the sixth-grade dance.
Sydney Lawrence was working as a scribe in the emergency department of a hospital and just about to begin graduate school to pursue a certificate in public health when, in a chance meeting, she heard about an organization called HOLA – a nonprofit dedicated to providing sustainable healthcare solutions to developing countries in Latin America.