Say hello to Ysabel

Meet Ysabel!

Ysabel and her mother have started an organization to raise awareness about CHARGE Syndrome, the rare genetic disease that Ysabel was born with.

Two years ago, Ysabel met her passion George Chakiris (academy award winning actor who played Bernardo in the 1961 classic film, West Side Story) and they struck up an enduring friendship. Mr. Chakiris would like to do what he can to support research into CHARGE Syndrome.

To that end, Ysabel and her mother are working on the website www.chakirisforcharge.org, which is chock full of news and information and includes a line of products that have the slogan “I’ve Got the Chakiris Chill.” All proceeds go to the CHARGE Syndrome Foundation: www.chargesyndrome.org

The especially exciting news is that Mr. Chakiris invited Ysabel to attend a gala event through the Dizzy Feet Foundation in LA on August 1st, where he received a lifetime achievement award: dizzyfeetfoundation.org/celebration-of-dance. He used this occasion to launch Chakiris for CHARGE Syndrome, and Ysabel walked the red carpet with him and was his guest for the evening. Wow!