By RICKY KERR
Hays Post

In the spirit of the holiday season, strangers and community members have come together to help Hays resident, Cody Baker, raise money for a service dog.

Baker has battled cancer for a decade. He and his doctors believe a service dog would significantly improve Baker’s quality of life.

One such stranger, Hays native Daniel Moritz, took initiative to help Baker accomplish his goal.

“I actually don’t know Cody,” Moritz said, “I just happened to be scrolling through Facebook and saw a post about him … by Hays Post.”

Many people in the comments section were asking if there was a GoFundMe page setup for donations, Moritz said. GoFundMe is a crowdfunding website designed to raise money for personal goals and life events.

“After a day or two, no one had replied about there being one (GoFundMe page), so I messaged Cody and asked him if it would be OK if I helped out and started one and he was OK with that,” Moritz said, “From there on, he and I have been sharing it in hopes that others will see it and share it and donate if possible.”

As of Monday morning, just more than $3,000 has been raised via the site.

For anyone who would like to donate, they can visit the GoFundMe page.