EAST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) — There are more ways than one to lead, but isn’t leading by example the best way? It is for Elizabeth Franco-Spano, and it was something she learned at an early age.

“Yeah, it’s part of my upbringing,” she said. “I grew up without a dad, a single-parent home. My mom sent us all through college; we all have great careers, and I think it comes from her.”

In March, as the pandemic was ramping up, Franco-Spano knew she had to do something to help her friend, Tracey Fucci.

Fucci was waiting for a kidney transplant and had to go for dialysis daily. She is also legally blind and needed wipes to clean her dialysis machine. Since wipes were becoming extremely difficult to come by, Franco-Spano took to Facebook to help and was given many containers.

Fucci said the wipes were a success.

“They work. I haven’t had any infections.”

In May, Fucci finally got the news she had been longing to hear.

“I got the kidney May 20 and it happened quick,” Fucci explained. “They called me the night before. I went in at 7 in the morning. They did the transplant, three and a half hours…everything is going good now. All the anti-rejection drugs are coming into place.”

“I’m so happy for her,” Franco-Spano said. “You know, she said she’s going to do good things for people, but she has. She’s a very kind person.”

That sort of leadership has led to icing on the cake for Franco-Spano. In June, she was named East Haven Teacher of the Year. I guess it’s true what they say: What goes around comes around.

“Sometimes you look at it like that when you see the whole picture,” Franco-Spano said. “It ties into my teaching and what I do because my students see me as a role model, and they see that I’m doing these things.”

Fucci said it’s uplifting to know that there are still good people in this world like her friend.