When 16-year-old Grayden Brunet joined the Sackets Harbor, New York, volunteer fire department in 2017, he was the youngest on the team by 20 years. He was so excited to be following in his dad’s footsteps that he persuaded two classmates, Niklas Brazie and Dalton Hardison, to sign up too.

A few years later, the older firefighters quit their jobs over COVID-19 concerns. Suddenly, the three teens not only were helping the Sackets Harbor volunteer fire department, they were the Sackets Harbor volunteer fire department. They were the ones responding to heart attacks, car accidents, and suicides. They were the ones sending COVID-19 patients to hospitals.

“We went from not even having our licenses to saving people’s lives,” Hardison told CBS.

As far as the teens were concerned, they couldn’t quit. If they did, Brunet told North County Public Radio, “The community would lose the ambulance.”

The three teens struggled on alone for a year until help arrived in the form of five more teens, all motivated to serve their neighbors in the town of 1, 300. “When they call 911, they’re expecting someone to help them,” says Sophia DeVito, who was 16 when she joined.

The job is taxing. One night last fall, the crew responded to two ambulance calls and a fire. They got home at 5:30a. m., just two hours before school started.

“It’s definitely hard coming back from the calls and having to take a math test,” Grayden’s younger brother Gannon told WWNY.

But they don’t mind the hard work. And the looks on the faces of 911 callers when they meet their rescuers? Priceless, says Cooper Antonson. “A lot of people ask, ‘Wait, how old are you?’”

Mention the word superhero, and the images that come to mind are of fictional characters like Spiderman, Wonder Woman, or Batman. However, photographer Josh Rossi has used his camera to show the world’s real superheroes — young children who are battling severe diseases and disabilities.

The event leading to the creative project began in 2016, when Rossi fulfilled his then three-year-old daughter’s dream of becoming Wonder Woman. Thanks to the handmade costume and Rossi’s impressive Photoshop skills, the photoshoot instantly became a hit.

Since it was Wonder Woman that brought about the idea, Rossi decided to focus on the superheroes that will appear alongside her in the upcoming movie, Justice League. To make the photoshoot more meaningful to the kids, he matched each child with a superhero with whom they had the most in common.

The first member of the real-life “Justice League” was Kayden Kinckle. The five-year-old uses prosthetics (假肢) to walk because both his legs had to be cut off due to a born disorder. To Rossi, Kayden’s perfect superhero was Cyborg, who was a healthy boy before a terrible accident left him injured, forcing his father to keep him alive with robotic parts.

Teagan Pettit was born with only half a heart and has already gone through three open-heart surgeries. According to Rossi, the nine-year-old fits the bill for Superman because they both have a weak heart. The fictional superhero grows weak when near Kryptonite (氪), while Teagen’s half heart is too weak to control his body temperature. The photographer says, “Superman and Teagan both have hearts of steel!”

Wings of Rescue, a nonprofit group founded by Yehuda Netanel, hopes to make its 2015 Thanksgiving holiday airlift （空运）its biggest event to date with 25 planes carrying more than 1,000 dogs and 100 cats to new homes around the United States.

“Last year we flew 608 animals," Ric Browde, a volunteer of Wings of Rescue said. "And as soon as the last plane took off, Yehuda told me, ‘Next year we have to go bigger, we have to do 1,000 dogs!’ And I thought, where are we going to get 1,000 dogs? The really sad part is, there are 1,000 dogs that need homes.”

The airlift will use a variety of aircraft. While most pilots involved are seasoned Wings of Rescue volunteers, there will be a couple of pilots making their first rescue flight. “We’re always looking for new pilots that are willing to join the team,” added Browde.

The event will be filmed as part of the All-Star Dog Rescue Celebration to air on the FOX network on Thanksgiving. The two-hour special aims to raise awareness for the eight million animals in the U.S. shelter system. It's being produced by actress Hilary Swank and will feature celebrity guests who will introduce the dogs in need of homes and honor the volunteers who devote their lives to caring for animals in need.

The airlift will cost the group more than $100,000. Browde says, on average, it costs $100 to save one dog – which includes fuel, rental fees for large aircraft and the cost of the health certificate required for each animal to fly.

Every dollar that is contributed goes directly to helping save a pet’s life, and Browde emphasizes that no donation is too small. “We're using money to get the planes in the air and get the dogs where they need to go.”