Episode 422 Don Culp Turning Loss into Inspiration Transcript

This transcript is from episode 422 with guest Don Culp.

Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Thanks for tuning in to the Drive On Podcast where we are focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community. Whether you’re a veteran, active duty, guard, reserve, or a family member, this podcast will share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio, and now let’s get on with the show.

Hey everyone. Welcome back to Drive On. I’m your host, Scott DeLuzio. And today, my guest is Don Culp. Don is a recently retired, uh, has been recently retired from the army with a diverse military career, including roles as a judge advocate, a warrant officer, Apache pilot, and chemical operations specialist.

And today we’ll discuss his journey. Uh, the challenges that he faced and his foundation, the Braylon Aubrey Foundation, which he started in memory of his daughter to help Children with impairing conditions. So before we get [00:01:00] into all of that and, and your, your background and story, Don, I want to welcome you to the show.

I’m really glad to have you here.

Don Culp: Yeah, thank you for having me. I appreciate the opportunity to be able to share about her story and, uh, kind of how the foundation came about. So thank you.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, absolutely. Um, before we get into all that, um, I mentioned a little bit about your military career. Um, definitely a diverse career. Uh, you, you, you kind of dip your toes in a lot of, uh, a lot of different Uh, areas there, uh, tell us a little bit about the, the journey in the military and the, the, the different roles that you held in your career.

Um, and I do believe this is the first time I’ve had a warrant officer on the show. I, if I’m, if I’m not mistaken, I, I, if I have before and somebody’s listening to this, like, Hey, I was a warrant officer. I forgot. And I’m, I apologize for that. Um, but warrant officers are hard to find, aren’t they?

Don Culp: Well, it depends on the branch that you’re involved in, you know, amongst the army worldwide, you know, you, you [00:02:00] rarely come across, I mean, you’ll come across them, but Generally in small amounts, but, uh, you know, they’re, they’ve increased the field in which, uh, warrant officers are involved in. But of course with aviation, I mean, that’s all you’re around is nothing but warrant officers.

So every time you hear some, every, every time you hear somebody come to you and say, well, man, warrant officers are so rare. Well, I’m thinking, well, not, not in my world because there’s a person to your left and right as a warrant officer in most cases, but, um, but yeah, I joined the, uh, so when I was a kid, uh, my, my stepdad was with the Blue Angels and, uh, you know, Top Gun was my favorite movie and everything said that I was going to be in the military, so, um, yeah.

The thing is, is I was supposed to go into the Navy. Uh, well, when I was 16, taking my ASVAB, well, let me back up. I was in JRTC, and, um, we had a recruiter come to, um, our class, and he was talking to us, and his name was Sergeant First Class Wyatt, and Sergeant First Class Wyatt talked to me about the Army, and the benefits of being in the Army, [00:03:00] and he, Talk to me about, uh, money.

And so a young guy, uh, 17, uh, well, correction, 16 at the time. Uh, I was interested in dollar signs. So he goes, if you want to be 30, 000 richer, you can, we can, we can make that happen. And so I was like, sign me up. So long story short, I wound up enlisting in the army in March 13th, 1997. I went to basic between my junior year and senior year.

Uh, the job that I agreed to enlist. As in, as was a, uh, chemical operations specialist. So, I had known that I wanted to fly. However, again, uh, me being young, me being motivated by money and all that stuff, I wound up getting, uh, I, I fell for it. Hook, line, sinker, joined the army and, uh, became a chemical operations specialist.

And I was at MOS for about, uh, I don’t know, uh, eight, nine years. Um, so. Junior, senior year, that summer, basic training, then after I graduated, I went back and did AIT. I [00:04:00] finally got the opportunity to be a warrant officer candidate and get the opportunity to be looked at for going to flight school in 2008.

All that kind of fell into place for me and I went to Fort Rucker, now Fort Novosel. I did flight school and, uh, I was basically aviation, uh, involved in aviation from 2008 to 2017 ish timeframe. And then, uh, after that I did one officer retention for a little bit, telling people the benefits of being a warrant officer, what it’s done for me and the opportunities that could be made available to them, and how it could transition well over to the civilian side with certifications and everything.

And then, uh, there came a time where I was looking at trying to get back to, uh, To aviation. Um, I was trying to get back to aviation and everything. And, um, long story short, I wound up having to make a decision and I wound up, uh, sticking around for a little bit longer in the army and wound up going over to the JAG Corps.[00:05:00]

I was in the JAG Corps for about two years. Um, and, uh, I knew that I was up for promotion, so I stuck it out until I made CW4 and I was able to actually pick up CW4 and then retire. Uh, I had my packet. I knew my promotion packet was up. I knew I was getting looked at, and I had timed everything to where I was going to pick up CW4 and then be able to retire, uh, two months later.

So, that is kind of my story, and that’s how it’s kind of ended.

Scott DeLuzio: sure, sure. And so, uh, this brings us up to about what timeframe when, when about was this, uh, that you retired?

Don Culp: Oh, so I just retired December 31st, 2023. That’s

Scott DeLuzio: Okay. So the recent, like that, that’s just within the last few months here. So, so you’re, you’re fresh out, you know, um, and getting out there. So, um, I mentioned in the beginning your, your daughter, uh, you know, faced some significant medical, uh, challenges. Tell us a little bit about that story and how that kind of [00:06:00] impacted, uh, obviously your, your lives and, and, uh, and where you saw your career going kind of during all of this.

Don Culp: So, uh, Braylon was actually born, uh, right before I left, right before I was supposed to leave for, uh, flight school. Um, Braylon was actually born, um, just five days before I had to report to Warrant Officer Candidate School. Uh, and so, when you move, it’s actually, uh, well, it’s Rutger, because you’re generally there for, or Fort Novosel, you’re there for, um, anywhere from, um, um, It can be, you know, at the time it was 18 months or greater, depending on um, the aircraft you fly, depending on holdovers between phases of training and everything else but, so I, I left, I had to report the first walk, uh, January 22nd, uh, 2009.

And then, uh, my wife was at home with, uh, my in laws, her parents, uh, cause [00:07:00] she had to had a seat. She had a C section and she had to wait to heal up. She couldn’t move down there, uh, until she was ready to go. Plus I was not going to be there cause I was in candidate school for the first, uh, few weeks of moving down to Rutgers.

So I had to, Load everything up in a U Haul in the snow. It actually, it was one of the rare times that it actually snows here in South Carolina. Uh, go figure. So, uh, I had to get everything loaded up. Uh, I had my brother and them meet me at the house that we were going to be living in. And, um, I had to report to candidate school the very next morning.

And so, While there, uh, while at candidate school, I was away, um, six months into the whole flight training journey, if you will, flight school journey, six months into it, um, our daughter started displaying issues, um, and, uh, the, she, she would have, um, Like minor eye deviations in front of us. Uh, so I would come home and I [00:08:00] would always hold her and, um, my wife would hold her too, but she tended to do this maybe more in front of me than others.

Her eyes would start to deviate and go to one side versus the other. And I always joked around and I was like, I guess she’s not too fond of me. I guess she doesn’t like me very much. Uh, that was kind of a running joke, but little did we know that she was actually having, uh, minor. Seizures in front of us.

Um, and six months in, six months into the actual journey, I had, I had come home. My wife had been with her and, um, she wound up, she was lethargic, white and lethargic, was on the floor. She actually, um, was having a seizure, which required her to go to the hospital. And little did we know that this would start the journey of multiple visits to the hospital.

And, um, she would actually, uh, require overnight stays. She would require, you know, being, Life flighted from Alabama to Pensacola, Florida, because they, in Enterprise, Alabama, they weren’t equipped to treat her. Uh, and so this, this continued [00:09:00] on, um, for the majority of her, her timeframe, her, her life. And so my wife was dealing with this and required multiple trips to the hospital.

And, um, I eventually deployed after graduating flight school. We moved back from Fort Rucker, Fort Novosel, back to South Carolina. I deployed and during which time, um, You know, she was hospitalized two more times and, uh, then she had this great timeframe where everything was just fine. She started walking, talking, feeding herself.

My wife taught her how to do sign language and everything else. It was just huge. Um, just increase in her abilities. Uh, so that being said, um, about six months after we had come back or I had come back, uh, she ultimately wound up, uh, being put to bed and put to sleep one night and woke up the next morning.

And, uh, Unfortunately, she had, she had passed at the age of 30 and so, uh, what we [00:10:00] found out about her condition as we went through all the hospitalizations, she had a chromosomal deletion, um, which, um, in addition to that, she, she had seizures and, um, she was just developmentally delayed, like the milestones that normal kids hit between the ages of, you know, from the time that they’re born to, you know, About three years old.

She was, she was behind. And so she was getting different types of therapy to help assist with that. Uh, we had therapists come to the home. She would go to places off, off post. Uh, that was while we were at Fort Novosel. While deployed, we had therapists come to the house and my wife would take her to places as well.

And my wife would work with her to try to get those skills going. Um, so. All of that together, that kind of, uh, was how the whole flight school thing, the whole transition to flight school, and then, um, her unfortunate passing, all of that was intertwined, and all of that occurred within that first three year time frame within the aviation, [00:11:00] um, program.

Scott DeLuzio: right. Um, gosh, I’m thinking about time periods and stuff like that. It might, my first, uh, born was, was born around that same time period, 2009, um, and, uh, I was deployed to Afghanistan a couple of months after, uh, he was, he was born. And I know just for me, like, I felt like I barely knew anything about being a father when I got back from, uh, from my deployment and my wife was over there.

She’s slinging diapers and she’s making the, the, the baby food and she’s, she’s got everything kind of handled and everything. I felt like I lost out on a, such a significant chunk of his life. Um, You know, at that point, and it was a significant chunk because he was only, you know, two months older. So when I left, um, but I think about it now, hearing your story, [00:12:00] um, and you know, you said there, there was a deployment in there for you.

I don’t know time period wise, but, um, when you think about the entirety of her life, that’s a much more significant, um, you know, percentage. You know, my, my son’s 14, almost 15 now. Um, and. Gosh, I, my heart just breaks hearing, hearing the story, um, that you and your family had to go through, um, with all of this.

Um, you know, especially, um, you know, okay, fine. There’s, there’s some medical issues, take her to the hospital and, you know, get, get things kind of straightened out when there’s a period of time when things seem like they’re going okay. Um, you know, maybe not perfect, but they’re okay. And, um, And then this kind of hits you, um, you know, where she goes to bed one night and doesn’t wake up the next morning.

And that, uh, like, yeah, my, my heart breaks. I’m, I’m truly sorry that, that you and your, your family had to [00:13:00] go through this. Um, but through all of this, um, you started the, the Braylon Aubrey Foundation, right? Um, tell us about that foundation and, and what its mission is and how, uh, it’s, it’s out there to help other folks.

Don Culp: So, um, you mentioned timeframes and, uh, so literally the, the transition to Rucker happened again, 2009. She was born in 2009. I deployed 11 to 12. Uh, and, uh, when I came back, it was six months after the fact when she passed. So it was literally those, those three years. Um, Because of the issues, um, the, first off, the reason I started the foundation, um, you know, I was doing my training, I was away, and, you know, there were When she started walking, I saw that in the form of a video that my wife sent to me, um, and there were, there were things that I [00:14:00] missed that I, we have other children, uh, and we, they’re, like, my oldest is, uh, getting ready to be 23, um, since Braylon’s passed, we’ve had two other children, so, uh, we have a nine year old and then we’ve got a, um, five year old.

My, Braylon would be, um, Um, 15 right now. And so she would, she would be like right in the middle, um, as far as all of our kids. But, uh, you know, the things that I’ve experienced with the other kids, um, I didn’t experience with her and there, you know, there was, there was, there was kind of a wedge, um, you can call it self created.

Um, I, well, I don’t know if that’s the right term to use, but, um, the typical bond that I have with my other kids, I, I, I, I, You know, she very much leaned to my wife, her and my wife had a very strong bond and my wife was there and did exactly everything that she could to the best of her ability with treating Brevin’s conditions.

Um, so in a, in a sense, um, [00:15:00] because of, uh, not having those things and her, her, her life being cut short, I, I, I’ve personally felt, felt the need to do something. Um, and so, um, I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I did want to do something. So what wound up happening was, is I kind of, I created the, uh, the, the foundation and through the foundation, um, I was originally going to focus on trying to help children with impairing conditions specific to the chromosomal deletion that they’re experiencing.

My daughter had the problem with that is, is it’s so rare if you’re going to make an impact. Um, it, it just wouldn’t be any impact as a good impact. If you can make a difference in somebody’s life over some or no one’s. But I wanted to make a bigger impact. So I decided to, uh, broaden the scope of the actual foundation to any child with impairing conditions.

Um, and the whole purpose is to [00:16:00] do what we can to help them in their pursuit for a better quality of life, whether it’s resources for them, um, whether, um, advocating for them, which the advocating part, still working on. There’s been some ad advocating done for special programs that we know of, That we experienced ourselves through the military.

One, one of them being actual EFNP. Um, but that being said, um, that is our main mission is to advocate and help, um, special needs children, uh, have a better quality of life. So the foundation was actually started in 2018.

Scott DeLuzio: Okay. Yeah, I was, I was gonna ask when, when about the, that foundation came to be, um, you know, was it, know, right after, or was this something, you know, a few years down the line? So it seems like, you know Yeah. A few years down the line. And, um, now you, you talked about like programs, uh, through the [00:17:00] military, um, and obviously you want to advocate for those types of things to be available.

Um, are some programs that. Already exist. I think you, you, you mentioned, uh, one there. Uh, so there’s, there’s at least that, uh, program. Um, for me, I think part of it would be, um, You know, uh, in like an awareness campaign to make sure that people who have, uh, Children with these types of disabilities that they know that programs like this exist because sometimes there’s, there’s just so many out there you can’t possibly know all, all of the programs and, and oftentimes they go underutilized because while they exist, people may not know that they exist.

Is that kind of an issue that you see with some folks?

Don Culp: I think there’s, you know, if you did a research for different non profits, there’s a plethora of them out there. You know, and it’s, [00:18:00] it’s, you’ll hear this used in different ways, but, you know, some people are told, uh, you, Life’s about what you know, not who you know. And then in other cases, you’ll hear about life’s about who you know, not what you know.

Well, uh, I think it’s a little bit of both, but in this case, when people are in a certain situation and, um, you know, they need help, it’s more about what you know. Um, people can feel very overwhelmed, especially in an un, in a situation unfamiliar to them, especially in an unfamiliar location. And like for, for us.

We were Enterprise Alabama when we were from South Carolina, and, uh, the only people that I knew were the people that I was in training with, and my wife knew a couple of those guys wives or what have you, um, but we didn’t know resources that were available to us, we kind of got a crash course in those things, uh, and there were hiccups, the process wasn’t perfect, um, but there was a lot of things that were given to us that in that time, [00:19:00] Um, that time frame were very beneficial, so I’m a strong advocate for that program.

Again, it wasn’t always, like, it wasn’t always perfect, but it was definitely better than nothing, and we had people trying to put us in the right, you know, right direction.

Scott DeLuzio: Could you describe that program? Like what was it that was involved that that was beneficial to you?

Don Culp: Well, I mean, there was, there was, um, like a direct, um, I don’t want to use the word liaison, but a coordinator and that person basically directed us to different areas for care. Um, and so, luckily, um, my wife as well, she, Uh, was also doing research as far as, as far as finding providers and stuff like that to, to get my daughter’s care.

So between that program and my wife doing her due diligence, I mean, everything just kind of benefited, uh, Braylon and things just kind of [00:20:00] fell in line. But basically what it is, is it’s a program where you get a, a, a specific coordinator and they kind of assess your needs and they align you with the necessary programs that the.

The, the military offers. So for example, whenever we first transitioned down to Fort Rucker, Fort Novosel, um, you know, we were living off post. Well, we were told that if, um, because we lived off post, Braylon didn’t qualify for certain programs. Um, for example, a therapist coming into our home and working with her.

Well, so, We were like, well, how do, how do we make that happen? Well, you move on post. So we talked to the person that we were renting our house from about moving on post and we moved on post. Uh, I mean, and then we started getting the necessary resources to have therapists come in the house to kind of double tap the therapy that Brayden was receiving.

Um, she had resources off post within the, the vicinity of, uh, I forget the name of the town. Um, Fort Rucker, Fort [00:21:00] Novoselic surrounded by three towns, Daleville, Enterprise and then one other town and I can’t remember the name, Ozark, Ozark, Alabama. And so Anyway, she would attend Sumar therapy off post in Ozark and then she would get in house therapy and that was all because of somebody telling us from the program that That this resource existed if you moved on post.

So basically, EFMP, they just take your need, they assess your need, and then they find the necessary specialists and programs that would benefit you in your dependence time of need.

Scott DeLuzio: And it’s great that you had somebody like that to advocate for you or not necessarily advocate, but, uh, kind of push you in the right direction, uh, and allow you to take advantage of, of the, uh, services that were available to you. Um, because if you didn’t have that, it would just be reliant on whatever research you happen to do and happen to come across.

[00:22:00] Um, and. That you may not have come across that particular, uh, stipulation that said, well, you can get this, uh, type of therapy if you live on post, but not if you live off post, uh, type of thing. And, uh, then that’s just one less thing that your, your family would be able to benefit from. And so, um, yeah, certainly, uh, for folks out there who are dealing with any sort of, uh, issues like this, um, Get involved with that.

Uh, you know, get that, that person to help, uh, facilitate the whole process for you, make, make you aware of some of the things that are relevant to you because I know, um, and I, I don’t know every single, uh, situation, like what programs are presented to you, but I know the way, a lot of times the way the military presents programs that are available to people.

I know before we deployed, uh, and after we came back home [00:23:00] and, uh, Azure. Uh, transitioning out of active duty and everything like the, uh, the way the military does it, it feels like you’re drinking from a fire hose where you’re getting so many programs and so many, uh, things just thrown at you. And a lot of which.

You don’t need, you’re not, they’re not relevant to you, but you’re getting all this information. There may be one or two things that maybe you do want to use or you do need to use, um, but they kind of get lost in the shuffle with all the other noise that goes on there. So having someone who can look at your individual case, your family’s individual situation and say, this is, What you need.

This is, this is how you go about getting access to it. And, uh, you know, all the, the steps that are required, uh, that to me sounds like a heck of a lot better than trying to figure it all out on your own, especially when you’re dealing with a child who has, you know, serious medical. Uh, issues too. [00:24:00] Um, definitely having that support is gotta be a blessing.

Right.

Don Culp: It was. I mean, and anybody that’s got a child with a special need or that an impairing condition, um, that program is, uh, definitely beneficial. Um, and again, it wasn’t perfect. Um, I don’t know anything that is a perfect, seamless process. When you’re overwhelmed, though, it is good to have a program. It’s good to have an advocate there for you and to make you aware of things that you don’t know.

Uh, so for anybody in a situation like that, um, As parents, when you see your kid, um, In a, in a situation where they’re hurting or they’ve got some sort of issue and you don’t really know how to deal with it, you don’t understand it, that’s overwhelming in itself, plus the way the Army presents the information to you, like you said, drink, uh, that’s, I think that’s with anything that the Army does, they try to present to you all this information so fast, quick, fast, in a hurry, you have no time to digest, process it, and it’s, it’s very much like drinking from a fire hose, not to mention the overwhelming circumstances that [00:25:00] you’re already facing as it is.

So,

Scott DeLuzio: Right. And I remember getting these, these flyers and brochures and things like that for all these different programs. I had a stack of stuff. It was like, it was, it was huge. It was just a huge stack of papers. It’s like, I’m never going to go through all these things. Like, even if the thing that I need is somewhere in the middle of that, I’m not going to find it.

Uh, they. They checked the box though. They gave me the information. You know, like that’s, that’s one thing the army did. Like you said, does really well is they’ll give you the information. Um, but it, but it comes a quick, fast and a hurry and it’s not always presented in the best way. So, um, and, and especially people who are new to an area like you were, uh, down there in Alabama.

And. not familiar with the resources that might be available in the community or even on, on base or, um, you know, whatever, like there’s, that, that’s not really the best situation to [00:26:00] be in. So now you’ve got, you’ve got a ton of research to do cause you can’t even rely on, Oh, I know, you know, I had a neighbor, you know, five years ago who told me about this place that they went to and with their kid and, um.

You know, like you can’t rely on any of that kind of information because you don’t have any of it. So, so yeah, having, having that advocate, uh, to, I keep saying advocate, but the person who’s there to, uh, help guide you through that, that journey is definitely beneficial. Um, now you talked about with your foundation, um, uh, the, the types of stuff that, that you guys do, um, Are there specific, uh, you know, initiatives that you do, uh, take part in, uh, to help either in the community or help with individuals, uh, how does that all work?

Don Culp: So, the, one of the main goals, I, you know, I briefly touched on what our initial scope was of the foundation, what the initial objective was going to [00:27:00] be, help those that have the same condition as Braylon, but that wouldn’t have been impactful, uh, as impactful as I would have liked to have been. So, we broadened the scope.

So, um, One of the first goals was going to be to give back to all the entities that played a role in my daughter’s care. Every place, because I felt like, whereas again, not everything’s perfect. We had certain issues with certain things because it was our child, our child was being treated and what have you, but I felt it was very important to give back because I know that the overall mission and the overall impact that these places have on families and children is, is uh A pretty big deal.

So the first goal is to was to give back to those entities. What I didn’t anticipate is being able to do that within the first two years. Um, and I don’t, I don’t mean just by a, uh, minor amount, uh, but we were able [00:28:00] to specifically, I mean, uh, The very first thing we did, the very first thing we did was we participated in the University of Pennsylvania’s ASPE program where they are actually doing an actual study on this particular issue.

The deletion, focusing in on the Norexin 1 gene And, uh, we participated in a study to help them advance their specific study to help further understand the impact of this. So, for example, um, I actually have the deletion myself. I passed it to her. Um, now, what, what, the way she, uh, showed the deletion and the effects that it had on her, um, It doesn’t have those effects on me.

So it’s very possible to be a carrier versus being affected by it. So it is a hereditary thing. So the University of Pennsylvania’s, uh, [00:29:00] Perelman Medical School, um, they’re the ones that are conducting the research behind this. So the first, the very first thing we did was get involved in that. So then as soon as we started conducting our annual fundraising activities, uh, Giving back to all the entities.

So the very first place that we gave back to was the, uh, we gave back to the Lexington one school district. We specifically said we wanted to go to their special needs program.

And so their special needs program, Braylon was a part of that. That was the additional therapy, part of the additional therapy that she got, uh, when we came back after flight school, I was deployed. My wife was able to get that set up, but what that did was, is they take kids that are, uh, pre K aged, and it’s a program that’s based, it’s designed to work with them to help bring them online so that they’re ready to go by the time they reach kindergarten.

So, we purchased, uh, several items. That they needed, [00:30:00] uh, that they specifically asked for. And, um, they helped within their one specific geographical area. They helped, um, In 2020, they had about 150 special needs, uh, pre k aged children. So that was the first area that we, um, we focused on. And then the second year that we focused on, uh, we gave back to the Studer, Studer Family Children’s Hospital, uh, which is where Braylon was when she got life flighted from Fort Rucker to, uh, Pensacola, Florida.

We gave back to Sumar Children’s Therapy by buying equipment that they needed. Uh, we purchased wish list items for Prisma Children’s Hospital, which when I was deployed, she was hospitalized and, uh, here for, um, one, she was hospitalized twice. So one time was, I think, for a week. The second time was for almost nine days, I believe.

Um, and then we made a debt, uh, actual monetary donation to, to Nemours Children’s Hospital. Um, 2022 [00:31:00] 2023 timeframe, we started looking at the development of a special needs playground. Um, and we also made it, uh, we purchased wishlist items at the end of 2023 for the Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital in Charleston, their pediatric intensive care unit, because they have newborns there that have conditions and there’s Items that they needed, so we purchased those items.

Our main focus now, we’ve given to all these entities. I’m looking further into advocacy. This whole non profit has been a learning process. We don’t have a company that set it up for us. It was a stat. I set it up. Every step, every I’m learning as I go. So the whole idea is to just be impactful. So essentially the focus, I told you when I was a kid, all I ever wanted to do was fly.

I told you the reason that I started the foundation was just because of a sense of not being there when my daughter needed me. Now I was doing [00:32:00] other things, but that’s what drives this. So the effort that I was, the effort that I was putting into flying, um, I have now taken and put towards this foundation.

And so I get asked, you know, when I’m looked at, as far as what the focus of the foundation is, I get looked at as, and I’m asked, you know, so what are you going to do? What’s next? Well, you know, I’ve given back to these entity entities. We’ve, we’ve done all this stuff, which I wasn’t expecting to do as fast.

And I’m thankful for that. Um, so what’s next? So I go from this to, Oh, well, let’s try to, um, Build a 1. 7 million dollar playground and while we’re at it, let’s try to, you know, with everything else that we have going on, let’s try to do all this fundraising in the background too. So, as of right now in the 2024 timeframe, that has been our focus.

I’ve toured the facility where they build the playground. The company that builds this playground have built other ones around South Carolina that, [00:33:00] um, get good use. They do a good job. They invited me to come out to their plant. We had a paraplegic, uh, assess every aspect, every piece of equipment, meaning she actually gets on.

And utilizes what she can to play on the playground to see if it actually truly is a special needs, um, and all inclusive playground. And it’s been designed to do just that. It’s a 15, 000 square foot playground with tons of shade. Um, so kids that can’t control or regulate their body temperature have a place to remain cool.

It has transition points for kids that are in wheelchairs to where they can be out. Go play on the equipment, come down, and then have another transition point where their caregiver can place them back in the wheelchair, and they can move to another area on the playground itself. So, um, I am still working the advocacy part.

I’m still learning more about that. I’m finding out more about programs. The University of Pennsylvania, [00:34:00] uh, I have an ongoing relationship with them. They’ve promoted our 5k every year from Pennsylvania, and they’re in the process of creating a foundation that’s, um, they’re in the process of Creating a foundation that’s specific to their program.

And they’ve consulted with me and gotten feedback with me with the things that I’ve done and basically spoke to me and just asked for my involvement with the creation of this, this, uh, this board, this foundation from their standpoint, which I consider a university talking to me, a little guy like me about something like that, I think, um, That’s a testament to how effective we’ve been and, um, I think it’s important to make that happen.

So that’s kind of where we are right now.

Scott DeLuzio: Well, that’s actually, uh, like you said, I was thinking that myself. It’s like you got this big university with all these, uh, these smart people walking around there and, and they’re, they’re asking you for your, your advice. Input, uh, that’s got to feel pretty good. Like you, you’ve done something right [00:35:00] with all, with all the things that you’re doing, uh, obviously because otherwise if, if you completely botched it, let’s put it this way, they’re not reaching out to you to, uh, to ask you for your help, right?

Um, and so you, you did something right. And I think that’s a testament to all the hard work and the dedication that You’ve put in, uh, you and your family. I’m sure there’s other, other people involved as well, but, um, you know, there’s, uh, a lot of work that goes into everything that you’re doing. Um, and, uh, I guess knowing that there are people out there who care enough to Put this much effort into, uh, this type of, you know, whether it’s an advocacy work or, uh, who, who just think to make a playground where their kids can go out and play on this playground.

Um, you know, where other playgrounds they may not be able to. Um, [00:36:00] like somebody else is out there who cares about this. That is having an impact. Um, you know, whether you know it or not, like there, there are people out there who are, uh, they, they’re better off now because there are things like this, uh, you know, in the works and, and, and. The type of work that you’re doing. Um, one thing struck me as you were talking, and I don’t know if this thought had occurred to you or if it’s, um, something that’s on the radar for the future, maybe, maybe a not right now kind of thing, but maybe somewhere down the line, but, um, And there, and this may not be possible, there may be legal reasons why this is not possible, but the thought came across that there are families like yours who have to move their kid from maybe a rural area to someplace else like you did with yours, uh, when, when she went to Pensacola.

Um, [00:37:00] And I can’t imagine that that kind of flight was cheap to do. And there’s, there’s probably some families out there who like, I, I don’t know how we’re going to be able to figure that out. Um, you know, maybe insurance, maybe it covers it. Maybe it doesn’t cover it. I, you know, in certain circumstances, but, um, Part of your background is aviation and flying.

And that was something that you’ve always wanted to do. And back in my head, I was like, wow, that seems like it, that could be a fit is, is maybe helping some of these families get from A to B. Um, you know, and, and again, there may be some reasons why, uh, you know, you may have to have like medical staff and all that kind of stuff where, why that may not be practical, but, um, you know, it, It’s just one of those things that I was like, Hey, if that, that could be a, a good fit down the line too.

But, um, you know, there may be a lot more work as far as the adv advocacy and, and other things that you have going on that maybe that’s not in the cards for you. And, um, [00:38:00] you know, that may not be something that you’re, you’re up for, but, um. You know, I was just thinking, you know, how can we, how can we impact as many people as possible?

And that, that seemed like it could have an impact as well, but, um, but, but go ahead.

Don Culp: Well, I was going to say, it’s funny that you mentioned that because, uh, one of the things because of how closely the, the, the flying aspect and, My daughter’s life, like the time that I actually started flying, how they’re intertwined, the timeframes and everything. I’ve actually looked at trying to do that because I wanted to try to act.

I wanted to try to bridge the two together. And, uh, one of the things that my family and I kind of came up with just by talking, um, just having a mere discussion, the idea kind of just, Came and it is a process to make happen, but in the future, um, you know, I’d like to be able to fly kids around that, um, have an impairing condition, but they’ve never experienced flight just, just to give [00:39:00] them that, you know, that experience.

Um, Braylon was always happy despite her circumstances. Braylon smiled a whole bunch. She was happy and she just, she was just a happy child. Um, even. amongst her condition and her circumstances. And so, um, seeing the happiness on another child, uh, if you can give them that experience, that’s kind of, that’s, that’s good.

Kind of a big deal. And, uh, I would like to be able to fly them around just Columbia. Uh, cause here you take off from Columbia. You’ve got, um, once you hit a thousand feet, I mean, you got Williams Bryce Stadium here, you got downtown Columbia right here. And then you got Lake Murray over here. And it’s quite a view and you do a 10, 15 minute flight and come back around and land.

It’s, I think that would just be a very impactful moment for kids. The other half of that is, um, we have already won it. There’s been talk, and I don’t know what this looks like yet, but it’s there, [00:40:00] is bridge the gap. You know, if there’s people who can’t afford a flight to go see a therapist somewhere in another state, or somewhere further along the state, we bridge that gap.

I know that there’s, uh, I know that there’s another entity out there somewhere in the country that does something similar to that. They’re not, uh, local to here. Um, and, um, and I don’t know, I don’t know what their overall mission looks like, but that’s something that I want to do too. Um, and so I hope that with, uh, when the time presents itself that we’re able to do something like that.

I don’t know what the insurance looks like. I don’t know, I don’t know what any of it is, but it’s an idea there. But you know, at one point this foundation, what’s turned into this foundation was also an idea too. And this started because, because I got on Facebook and started typing random memories about my daughter.

Um, things that I remembered from my standpoint and, uh, my family didn’t understand what I was doing. [00:41:00] Um, I didn’t honestly know what I was doing either. I just wanted to do something, but I, I, I didn’t know what that looked like. And then finally it just kind of all came together to what it is now. So.

Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And I, I think with anything, like all of these ideas have to start off as an idea and someone saying, you know what, that’s just crazy enough. It might work, you know? And, and then you, you push it forward and you advance, uh, slowly, right? You, you can’t, You can’t bite off too big of a piece at once.

You’re going to, you’re going to feel like you’re drowning. And. When, um, when you have these, these types of ideas, you know, take, take it piece by piece. There’s going to be some, um, unknowns, right? You said things like insurance or, you know, other, uh, unknown, maybe it’s just some licensing or, or whatever that needs to happen, um, that are unknown at this point.

Well, okay, well, you’re, you’re going to have some research. You’re gonna have to figure some of that stuff out. Um, and, um, Take it one day at a time, just like everything else. And I think, um, [00:42:00] the, the efforts that you’re going through, um, to help out other people, um, I think they’re inspiring. Um, there are people out there who suffer a loss, like, The loss of your daughter, uh, and it almost paralyzes them where they, they can’t move on.

And I don’t mean move on as a, just forget it. And you know, that type of thing, that, that’s not what I’m saying. I just, you know, continuing to bring positivity into the world. And that’s exactly what you’re doing is you’re, you’re helping other people who were in your shoes, uh, who are in the shoes that you were in, I should say.

And, uh, Uh, you know, from your experience, just how difficult it is to go through the types of things that, that you had to go through. And just like that, that person who was able to help coordinate things on your [00:43:00] end and make things just a little bit easier, not to say that everything was, was easy, but they made it a little bit easier.

Um, you’re making it. A little bit easier for other folks as well. Um, you know, whether it’s through donations to, uh, some of these organizations that helped you and your family along the way, um, you know, that, that does help other families, um, whether they know it or not, there’s, there’s that help there because maybe there’s new equipment or there’s, uh, additional staff or whatever that could be, um, utilized through whatever programs that they offer.

And, They may not have had that had it not been for the work that you’re doing. And so there’s some positivity there. And, um, I, I think that’s inspiring. Uh, honestly, I, I feel like, uh, more people, um, can, can really learn from what you’re telling us here and what your, your story is, um, and, and learn from that [00:44:00] and use that Negative events or setbacks in their lives as, as fuel for something positive, um, going forward.

And, and hopefully you, you have it in you to continue doing, uh, this type of work because, uh, you know, it is, it is significant and it is helping, uh, a lot of people, um, you know, and so, so that is, uh, something that you should be, be proud of, you know, give, give yourself, um, You know, the credit words do, um, you know, for, for that type of stuff.

Right. Um, before we, we wrap up this episode, um, I know there’s probably some listeners who’ve heard, heard your story here, heard about your, your daughter and the type of work that you’re doing now. Um, they probably want to get involved somehow. Um, you know, and I know. Like any nonprofit, you know, donations are certainly always welcome.[00:45:00]

Uh, what, um, where can people go to find out more information about the foundation and, uh, make a donation or if you need volunteers or whatever it is that you guys are looking for, uh, where can people go to find out more information?

Don Culp: Okay, so we have, um, our website at www. thebraylonalveryfoundation. org, uh, that specific, uh, website has our mission statement. It has what we’re looking for. It has all the information regarding, um, our annual 5k. It has information regarding the ongoing initiative to build this playground and everything that we’ve done, everything that we look to do, Everything about us is there.

We also have our Facebook page. People can follow and stay updated with, uh, ongoing efforts, uh, and things that we’re doing on the day to day basis. We also are on LinkedIn as well. So, and if anybody has any questions, they can also email us, um, at, uh, the Braylon Aubrey Foundation at Gmail.

Scott DeLuzio: Excellent. Well, I’ll have links to your [00:46:00] website, social media and all that in the show notes so that folks can reach out and get in touch or make a donation or participate in the 5k. Is the 5k coming up anytime soon? Do you have it at a certain time of year every year?

Don Culp: Yeah. So we’ve actually this year, we, um, we actually have our own personalized, uh, route this year. First time we were using somebody else’s course, uh, for the prior years. And so it’s specifically tailored to us. It is by another special needs playground that, um, it’s called Leo’s Landing that was actually built by the same company that, uh, we’re trying to get to build ours.

Um, but it is, um, on September 28th, Uh, and it is going to be the race starts at 8 30. We also have for, for folks that are geographically restricted. Well, because of technology, you don’t have to be geographically restricted. Uh, we do offer a virtual option as well. The only thing that we [00:47:00] ask is if you decided to register for the run, which you can do so at our website, um, on the 5k link, but, um, just get your registration in early so that we can send you all of your, Brayden Aubrey Foundation 5k swag early enough, um, and we can make sure that you get stuff because orders have to be in by a certain time frame for sure just to make sure we get them all on time.

Scott DeLuzio: Sure. Well, again, I’ll have links to all of that in the show notes and, and hopefully, um, this episode will be out in enough time that, that folks can, uh, check it out and, and get involved in the 5k this year. If not, um, you know, they can still, uh, make donations and, uh, and do all of that kind of stuff through, through your website.

So again, check out the show notes for, for all of that information. Uh, Don, uh, really it’s been a pleasure speaking with you today. Thank you for joining us. Coming on and being open and vulnerable about the issues that your family went through and how you guys navigated [00:48:00] some of those challenges, uh, and, and additionally how you are, uh, making the best of a bad situation going forward.

Um, and, and I think, uh, you guys are definitely an inspiration to many, many people out there who be in a similar, uh, situation and, and they, uh, need that. Need that boost of, of hope and, uh, you know, positivity in their lives. So, so thank you and continue doing what you’re doing. I thank you for, uh, you know, the work that you guys are putting in.

It really is, uh, you know, impacting some, some folks out there. So thank you again.

Don Culp: Thank you for having me.

Scott DeLuzio: Thanks for listening to the Drive On Podcast. If you want to support the show, please check out Scott’s book, Surviving Son on Amazon. All of the sales from that book go directly back into this podcast and work to help veterans in need. You can also follow the Drive On Podcast on Instagram, Facebook, [00:49:00] Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and wherever you listen to podcasts.