Over ten years ago, four close friends founded a charity called Angie’s Hope.

One of the founders, Angie Lee, has been living with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) since she was a toddler.

Their organization’s mission is to raise funds to help fight the disease their friend has faced for many years.

The nonprofit began when Angie and her three close friends collected pennies for SMA research. At that time, they were only seven years old.

Soon after, the group of friends decided to host a garage sale so they could raise even more money. One garage sale led to four garage sales, and they raised over $20,000.

You can say they definitely caught the fundraising bug. Over the years, they have held pasta parties, a soccer tournament, and various annual events for Angie’s Hope. They continued to plan fundraising events well into high school and even had 25 people on their planning committee.

Now, the founders are going off to college. And they held one final event together in March. It was called “PROMise to Cure SMA,” a semi-formal event.

It has been a significant year for the charity. Angie’s Hope celebrated its 10th annual fundraising event, and the fact that the group raised more than their goal of $35,000 at that event.

It has also been a big year for SMA research, with the development of the first treatment for SMA, Spinraza.

Even though the founders may not be as involved as they go off to college, Angie’s Hope will continue to raise funds for SMA and to spread awareness.

Click here to read more in the Chicago Tribune and click here to visit Angie’s Hope.

How has friendship been important to you on your journey with a rare disease? Share your experiences here.