A student in Holland saw a lot of love come his way in the community. Aiden Nicholson is a 14-year-old who attends Holland Elementary School and has Chromosome 18 Ring Syndrome. 

Principal Lynne Van De Spiegle says the community got together and held some fundraisers.

"It was through the combined efforts of our local Lions group and our Holland Parent Advisory group," says Van De Spiegle. "He can't walk on his own. He had a walker, but it was recalled."

She notes there was a fault with the device and he required another. 

"It's called a gait trainer," continues Van De Spiegle. "It helps them stand up and be more mobile and stand up straighter to take some steps forward. The goal is to, hopefully, get him to be walking forward."

GaitGait trainer

She explains the students are involved in the effort and has a lot to do with Aiden in the school. 

"He's got an array of equipment that he goes in throughout the day," adds Van De Spiegle. He's got standing frames, and a bike, and he's very much integrated into this, specifically, the 3-4 classroom that he's in. He's part of their art projects. They buddy-read to him. They really do care deeply about Aiden and they want him to participate with them."

The new gait trainer is a nicer and easier way for students to be able to interact and around Aiden safely while he's able to move on his own with the device.  

"The funds came through in about a week-and-a-half to two weeks," adds Van De Spiegle. "At the time, we needed about $7,000 or $8,000 is what we thought we needed. It turned out to be a little bit over $9,000, but in about a week-and-a-half to two weeks, we had raised every penny and more that we needed -- probably well over $10,000 was raised."

She says that the Lions gave well over $4000 for the fish fry, and then some more for a little push. Through the community, they did their Starfish fundraiser. 

"For every dollar, you got your name put on a starfish," notes Van De Spiegle. "The bigger the starfish, the more that was donated. Those were put up all through town. The people and the community really came together to do this for aid and it was really quite remarkable."