Donate Shoes to Help 7-Year-Old Rochester Girl Get Service Dog

Samaria Gerads suffers from status epilepticus, a condition that causes a epileptic seizures and polymicrogyria and pachygyria (abnormal development of the brain).

The 7-year-old Rochester girl has qualified to receive a service dog through the charity organization - 4 Paws For Ability. The dog would be able to detect oncoming seizures based on changes to Samaria's scent and would be able to notify Samaria's parents. The dog is even trained to retrieve a magnet that activates a device implanted in Samaria to stop the seizure.

Cool stuff, right? The family needs your help though.

Training a service dog is quite expensive though. It can cost between $40,000 to $60,000. Samaria's family would be responsible for $17,000 and the non-profit would cover the remaining balance.

To raise the money Samaria and her family are collecting new and gently used shoes. Donation boxes can be found at the 37th St. Hy-Vee, J.E.T.S. Gymnastics and Children's Exchange.

Monetary donations can be made online at Samaria's FirstGiving page.