Big Giver Award, Erica Bryant

Erica Bryant, 32, from Omaha, is like many other young mothers –marveling at how her life has changed since having children, beaming with pride talking up her kids’ accomplishments and talents. Her sunny disposition belies her reality: caring for a special needs child. Bryant’s son Sam, 4, has Cystic Fibrosis (pictured above). >>>
For Erica, Sam’s disease has been a “blessing in disguise.” Bryant says she and her husband Aaron, say that CF has “taught us to think outside of ourselves. We wouldn’t change Sam for anything.” The Bryants also have a son, Benjamin, 6, and a daughter, Olivia, 11 months.
To their credit, the Bryants have taken an active role in the CF community, working
to fund research. It’s Erica’s work for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Nebraska Chapter that has earned her HER Omaha Magazine’s “Big Giver” Award.
Great Strides
When Sam was just a couple of months old, Erica called to see how she could become involved in the CF Foundation’s work. Soon she formed a team in their Great Strides Walk. Said Bryant, “We formed a team of mostly family and close friends and had t-shirts made. That first year we raised $3,500.” Added Bryant, “Every year since then it has gotten bigger. Last year we raised $20,000.”
The Great Strides Walk is the CF Foundation’s largest national fundraising event, held in cities all over the U.S. every year.
Erica’s talent as a fundraiser is topped only by her enthusiasm for her cause. She swells with pride when talking about the CF Foundation’s work. Said Bryant, “It is a great foundation – of the money you donate, 92 percent goes right to R&D.” She feels her efforts will be rewarded – and soon: “One med coming out at the end of the year is changing the defect that causes the illness. It gives me goosebumps to think about it.” The drugs to which she refers are VX-770 and VX-809, currently in clinical trials. They are not purported to be a cure for CF, but do appear to improve the symptoms in the most common mutations of CF.
Aaron also serves on the CF Foundation board of directors and works on the committee for the golf event.
Said Bryant, “I was raised to volunteer. I went to Duchesne Academy. We belong to St. Roberts. I was in a sorority. I used to be a member of Junior League of Omaha. But, CF is close to my heart. It’s a grassroots organization. There’s so much hope. I can see how it is going to change my son’s and others lives!”
Bryant said that with quite a few parents in Omaha involved in the CF Foundation, it’s a great way to learn from each other.
Bryant does her fundraising via email. “We have so much support from our family and friends. It is so humbling I feel bad asking people for money for my son’s illness. I have people I have never even met donating generously.” In addition to the fundraising, it’s the actual walk that is fun for Bryant. “1,500 people show up, even though it is freezing cold. It is a celebration day. It’s like a carnival. They have a bounce house, a band, and a DJ.”
Bryant co-chaired the walk the last two years and would “do it again,” she said. This year the walk raised an impressive $310,000. Of that amount, $70,000 is corporate. “It is almost all grassroots. That’s what I like the most about the walk aspect and the galas that we do. Not everybody can afford to buy a table or round of golf,” Bryant said.
Erica said the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Nebraska Chapter is lucky to count famed Nebraska and NFL football great Dave Rimington as an enthusiastic supporter. Dave Rimington is President of the Boomer Esiason Foundation. The Foundation is named for former NFL quarterback and CBS Sports color analyst Boomer Esiason, whose son has CF. In addition to that, Dave Rimington donates all the proceeds from the Rimington Football Camp and the annual Rimington Trophy Banquet to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Nebraska Chapter.
In addition to her fundraising, Bryant works on a Family Advisory Board. It is parents coming together to create resources for parents of newly diagnosed CF patients at Childrens and UNMC. “I feel like it’s my way of helping. I feel like it’s awesome that I have this opportunity.”
Erica said, “Sam is definitely a fighter.” She went on to say, “There is no cure on the horizon, but these new drugs would be amazing!”

What is Cystic Fibrosis?

Cystic Fibrosis is caused by a genetic mutation. Both parents must be carriers of the gene. One in 29 are carriers. If both parents are carriers, the the chance for CF in each pregnancy is one in four. The disease affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 U.S. children and adults. A thick, sticky mucus clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening infections and obstructs the pancreas, stopping natural enzymes from helping the system from breaking down and absorbing food properly. Adults with CF are usually candidates for a lung transplant. Life expectancy for CF patients is approximately 37.
 

Life with CF