Their work continues to grow.Even as Fran and Alan reach out to the newly injured, they tend to longtime members of the community, checking in with phone calls and notes (Fran still sends handwritten ones) to make sure they know they are there.įran is “always one phone call away, and that one phone call has been a lifeline for thousands of people. Alan is indefatigable and has played a central part in the foundation’s efforts to expand outreach across the community to offer support to families recently impacted by paralysis. In 2019, two years after Benjy’s death, Fran decided to merge her life’s work with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, joining Alan who has served as Reeve’s Director of Public Impact since 2012. “Cure is just a four-letter word,” says Alan, “and as important as it is, we can’t forget about treatment and improving the quality of life of those with paralysis.” Will Reeve, LPGA’s Karrie Webb, and Mark Messier at the 2022 Reeve Golf Classic event at Winged Foot Golf Club. Over the next three decades, the foundation provided thousands of families affected by spinal cord injury with the emotional support and critical information they have needed to pursue happy, fulfilling lives, cross barriers and achieve goals never thought possible. Brown Foundation.Īlan Brown with his brothers Steven and Dan, and supermom Fran, today. Less than a year after the accident, his mother Fran, with her husband Benjy and Alan, established the Alan T. JH and his family have been supporting it for years as they have a family friend named Alan Brown who, in 1988 at 20 years old, was on vacation in Martinique when a wave flipped him over, causing a spinal cord injury that paralyzed him from the chest down.

Scenes from Winged Foot at The Reeve Golf Classic. Proceeds from the Golf Classic benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation’s mission of curing spinal cord injury by advancing innovative research and improving quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis. One in particular, The Reeve Golf Classic, took place this past Monday at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, NY, which as any avid golfer knows has a storied history hosting six US Opens, most recently the 2020 US Open ( Tiger ranks it among the most difficult courses he’s played). There are dozens if not hundreds of golf outings over the summertaking place throughout the Metropolitan area, raising real money for myriad causes, from Cerebral Palsy to heart health to food insecurity to spinal cord research. However, this inspiration of his came from the fact that a lot of (golf matches) he’s been participating in lately have also been fund-raisers for various charities. I don’t know about JH’s talent as a golfer but I’m fairly sure he’s very good or at least working toward that.

The only thing I recall about that game in Pittsburgh was my friend later reporting to me (at least half-joking of course) that they were still talking about this houseguest who dug up the course with his swing. It’s a forever game where the golfer continually works on his or her ability or talent. I quickly learned it isn’t a sport where you just pick up a club and swing it like baseball or tennis. Once back in the college days while visiting a roommate in Pittsburgh, we went to play golf - his idea, not mine.

Today’s Diary is the total creation of JH who was inspired by his proclivity for the game of golf. Monday, August 1, 2022.Nice quiet weekend in New York with temps in the high 70s up to the mid-80s, and not so much humidity most of the time.

The game of life