BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — This weekend, Battle Creek will come together to honor a teenager whose kindness left a lasting mark on everyone around her.
Sabrina Almaraz died in a car accident 11 years ago at just 17 years old. To her family, she was Bree — a teenager who noticed when someone was hurting and always looked for a way to help.
"But that's just the way Bree was. I mean, she'd walk up and talk to people and make friends, and if she could do anything to help, she was right there. She was always there, and that's that's Sabrina's Light," Salina Fell, Sabrina's grandmother, said.
Sabrina's aunt, Nicole Ramos, channeled her family's grief into action, founding a foster-based animal rescue organization called Sabrina's Light. The organization gives dogs that have experienced fear, trauma, and instability a second chance.
"Losing Sabrina, when when you have so much love, and then that thing is gone, you need somewhere to put it. So Sabrina's Light gave me that place," Ramos said.
Now, the organization is expanding its work with a new program called DEETS.
"DEETS stands for decompression, exposure, enrichment, training, and structure, and so it's we're really trying to apply it to all dogs, but specifically shelter and rescue dogs, and it's helping them transform into their best selves in their new environment in their new homes," Evianne Dubois, animal behaviorist and neurobiologist, said.
The program is designed to help families better understand dogs whose fear or trauma can be mistaken for bad behavior. It will be introduced during the gala on Saturday.
"I think combining what Sabrina's Light can offer as far as the DEETS program can help those dogs coming out of rescues and going into homes and and thriving," Melissa Bird, a Sabrina's Light volunteer, said.
At the heart of the evening, though, is the teenager who inspired it all.
"I believe that she would be proud. I know she would be. Sabrina was, in a lot of ways, everybody's biggest supporter," Ramos said.
An Evening in Sabrina's Light Gala will take place at Squirrel Hollow Golf Course in Battle Creek this Saturday from 7 to 10 p.m. For ticket information and more details, click here.
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