Nara and Arissa Underhill understand how hard life can be sometimes.
The teenage sisters both have Erb’s palsy, which causes paralysis of the arm due to injured nerves.

Arissa, 15, also has cerebral palsy and Bell’s palsy, which causes weakness in the face muscles. She also had a stroke as a baby.

But they don’t let these conditions stand in their way.

“There are people who have nothing,” says Nara, 13. “They don’t have the things we do. We wanted to make a change and help others.”

That desire to help others stemmed from their childhoods, which were often spent in hospitals.

“We saw all of the other kids that were less fortunate than us,” says Arissa. “We’ve been given so much, and we need to pay it forward.”

“Pay it forward” is putting it lightly. The girls regularly spend Christmas money or babysitting cash on book, clothing and food drives. They’ve been donating their hair to Locks of Love for many years. Over the past two years, the girls have spent $700 of their own money on Thanksgiving drives. Food basket raffles for seniors raised money for It’s All About the Animals in Rochester.

They’ve been given the Standard- Times’ “Youth of the Year” award, as well as recognition from the state Senate and President George W. Bush.

Now the sisters will soon be named “Youth Heroes of the Year” in March at a charity ball hosted by M.O., L.I.F.E., a Fairhaven-based non-profit that assists people with disabilities.

“The organization called us up one day saying how amazed they were with the girls,” says their mom, Dawn. She and her husband, Matt, have long supported their kids’ efforts. “You can see the impact the girls have made in the community.”

M.O., L.I.F.E. President Charlie Murphy said choosing the girls was an easy decision.

“They may have their own disabilities, but that doesn’t stop them,” he says. “We’re always looking for that ‘hero inside of us.’ The work that these girls do supports our mission of serving others.”

It’s not much of a stretch to say the girls spend all their time giving back. But they do have a few other interests—namely softball. And school. Arissa wants to go on to college and find a major that allows her to continue serving others. Nara loves to draw and hopes to be an artist some day.

“Even without the awards, we would still keep doing what we do,” Nara says.

They won’t be stopping any time soon.

“It only takes a couple of dollars to make someone’s day brighter,” Arissa says.