RIGHT TIME RIGHT PLACE: A kick in the head is all it took for a connection

October 29, 2023 at 2:32 a.m.

by Kimberly Dishongh

Amanda and Wallace Smith and their daughter, Kaylee (center), volunteer together throughout the year, but they focus their efforts on Women and Children First during the holiday season. Wallace is Santa, and Amanda and Kaylee are his elves, as they pass out gifts to children in shelters. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)


Sometimes you need a kick in the pants to move forward with something big. For Wallace Smith, it was a kick in the head.

Wallace regularly took his two young sons to Taekwondo lessons, and when they asked him to, he signed up for lessons, too.

"I