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February 2, 2024 30 mins

In this special episode of “Shine Brightly!”, GiveSendGo Co-founder Jacob Wells speaks with Joel Strasser and Garrett Smith, best friends, and partners during Season 35 of “The Amazing Race”. They talk about their experience on the show and how it led to Joel starting a GiveSendGo campaign to help get Garrett’s daughter a service dog. 

To read more about their story and check out their GiveSendGo campaign visit www.GiveSendGo.com/SmithFamilyServiceDog

“My best friend and Amazing Race partner Garrett Smith (who I call Smyth) is one of the kindest people I know. He wants nothing more than to provide his daughter with a service dog that is trained for her specific needs. She has Down Syndrome and cerebral palsy. She is also deaf, but has cochlear implants that help her hear. She is so sweet and she's my favorite little pal. Whenever I see her she yells, "Strasser!" and gives me a big hug. She is mostly non-verbal, but is slowly learning some words.  From the very beginning, when we applied for The Amazing Race, Smyth told me that when we won she was getting the best service dog available. When that goal was disclosed on the show, America responded and reached out with the desire to support. We are overwhelmed by the positive response! Thank you for your donations large and small on behalf of the Smith family!”

Do you know of someone whose shining light deserves to be recognized? We're looking for GiveSendGo campaigns to feature in an upcoming spotlight episode. To submit a nomination or even your own campaign, simply fill out our Shine Brightly! form by clicking on this link: https://forms.gle/SydkhvjdYEuphVpR9

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