The Brianna Fund

for Children with Physical Disabilities

By Marjorie J. Hurst

Hope, Flight, and Freedom. That is what The Brianna Fund for Children with Physical Disabilities is all about. Fostering a sense of hope. Allowing for flight through movement. Providing a sense of freedom to experience the world.

Brianna Johnson is the inspiration. Ronald Johnson, Jr. is the devoted big brother. Ronn and Donna Johnson are the parents. Frank and Dora Robinson are the godparents. When you take such talented individuals and natural organizers and give them their own personal angel as an inspiration, it is understandable how such an unselfish vision could develop. And when you add to the vision the help of a “few” friends, there is no limiting what you can do!

And so it is with The Brianna Fund. Brianna was born with osteogenesis imperfecta or brittle bones. There was no family history or warning signs during pregnancy to alert her parents or doctors to Brianna’s condition. It was just something that happened at conception as the result of a mutated gene. Consequently, Brianna is not able to bear her own weight and needs a wheelchair to get around.

As she got older (Brianna is now 13 and will turn 14 in May), it became necessary for her to have a motorized wheelchair for easier mobility. But because her motorized wheelchair could not be disassembled easily and because repeated lifting and transferring of Brianna would result in frequent fractures, Ronn and Donna decided to invest in a van with a lift at a cost of approximately $60,000.00.

And, although they could have managed this cost on their own, it occurred to them how many other families had children with similar needs who were not able to afford such a critical expenditure. A secondary thought was how little the community knew about the types of issues that confront children with physical disabilities. And so, almost six years ago, a vision was born because one thing that Ronn and Donna knew for sure was that Brianna, “the princess” as she is called, was given to them for a reason.

Armed with the goals of (1) creating awareness in the community, (2) raising the level of public education, (3) providing concrete resources, and (4) advocating for these children, The Brianna Fund had its kick-off in Harvey Clay’s Springfield Lincoln Mercury car dealership parking lot on Boston Road in October of 1998. The financial expectations from this event were minimal, but in that one day, they raised $20,000.00, and they also raised the bar on what they could do as a group. Their first-year goal was to raise $50,000.00, and in less than 10 months, they had raised double that amount.

It’s the next step that the group took that is so impressive. After they established a permanent, non-profit fund so that people could make tax-deductible contributions, they leveraged their funds by placing them with the Community Foundation so that they could take advantage of the superior investing capability of a multi-million dollar fund and be listed in a brochure that goes out to thousands of individuals and corporations seeking to make charitable contributions. So far, 19 children with physical disabilities have benefited from their efforts to the tune of close to $200,000.00 in direct grants and in-kind donations.

Each February, in addition to the children who benefit from The Brianna Fund, at its annual winter gala, the group also recognizes as “angels” an adult or organization that has shown extraordinary commitment to positively impacting and/or improving the quality of life for children with physical disabilities. Those honored to date include: WTCC (90.7) radio station, Harvey Clay, Patrick Sullivan, Al LaPonte and Douglas McCollum.

Being able to help others is a passion, as well as a ministry, for the entire Johnson family. For Ronald, Jr., who is in his first year at Springfield College, being a part of The Brianna Fund is definitely a family affair, and he’s always right there helping at all of the fundraising events. For Ronn and Donna, their long-term mission is to see the model that they have created replicated in other areas, and, hopefully, see the fund obtain a large enough endowment so that it is not dependent on fundraisers. And for Brianna, in her own words, “It means so much to be called an inspiration for something so positive that is named after me and is doing so much in the community and is providing such a greater quality of life for so many.”

Hope, Flight, and Freedom. You can help. Contributions can be made to The Brianna Fund for Children with Physical Disabilities, P.O. Box 1702, Springfield, MA 01101. Their telephone number is (413) 782-9851 and their web address is: BriannaFund1998@aol.com.