An Aiken woman is in England training for this year's Olympic Games. Her hometown is showing its support and backing her dream of Olympic gold.

Heidi White will be competing in the Equestrian three-day eventing. It is a goal she has had since she started riding. But it was tragedy that first introduced Heidi and her family to the world of horses.

“Heidi was 13 when we lost her older sister in an automobile accident from that moment on our only saving grace was to get into the horses,” said Gretchen White, Heidi’s mother.

She's been riding horses for 30 years. And now she's going for gold.

“It's a life long dream of hers,” said Heidi’s dad, Robert White.

But it's a dream that doesn't come cheap.

“Now that she's made the team they pay for her housing, but there are always additional expenses and it's very expensive as you can imagine,” said Heidi’s mom.

That's where the community comes in. Lydia Del Rossi is the owner of Equine Divine in Aiken and she's hosting an event to raise money for Heidi.

“When I heard about this and that she's riding her own horse and the tremendous expense to go to London and then Hong Kong. I thought why not make it big,” said Del Rossi.

Heidi will be riding Northern Spy, the horse that has been by her side for 10 years. Both Heidi and Northern Spy are in England with the rest of the U.S. Olympic Equestrian team.

And expectations are high back in Aiken.

“Oh she's going for gold,” her mom said.

The fundraiser for Heidi will be Saturday July 26 at Equine Divine that's on Laurens Street. It is from 6-9 p.m. The White family is not sure of how many donations they will receive, but if they get more than they need they will donate the additional money to a charity.