What is the Bridge Builder Award?
The Bridge Builder Award recognizes outstanding leadership and support for the education of children with developmental disabilities. It also recognizes those who support Bridgeway and its vision of A world of opportunity for every child and a community of support for every family.
2024 Bridge Builder Award Winners
Senator Michele Reynolds:
Senator Reynolds represents the East and South sides of Franklin County in Ohio’s 3rd senate district. 65 Academy families reside in her district, and as a result, Senator Reynolds has become a champion for Bridgeway’s cause at the statehouse. As a lifelong resident of Ohio, she has an extensive background representing the community through her years in public service. We are grateful for Senator Reynolds’ interest in and support of the amazing young people Bridgeway serves.
Dave & Sara Freetage:
Dave and Sara are long-time members of the Bridgeway community, as their son Tyler has been a student here for more than a decade. In addition to being an officer in the Columbus Police Department, Dave is also the owner of Grove City Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, where he has hosted a 24-hour, 100-round tournament called BJJ for Bridgeway. Through this tournament, more than $100,000 has been raised in support of the mission of Bridgeway over the years. In addition, Officer Freetage has led training for his fellow police officers about how to best interact with community members on the spectrum as law enforcement. Their team has also consulted with us on campus safety and training. Dave and Sara serve as tireless advocates for children on the spectrum, including co-chairing the 2020 Build Bridgeway Capital Campaign which helped us acquire this building.
2023 Bridge Builder Award Winners
The Country Club at Muirfield Village Foundation:
The Country Club at Muirfield Village Foundation has been a wonderful partner in helping Bridgeway fulfill its mission for the last 8 years. The Country Club at Muirfield Village Foundation supports organizations that serve children with special needs. At Bridgeway, they have funded projects such as the build-out of two sensory rooms, accessible swings on the playground, and their most recent project – a sensory library to use in Occupational Therapy. In total, they have donated more than $25,000 to support Bridgeway’s students and clients.
Brian Jones & Tim Kress
Brian is the Senior Manager for International Business Development at Starbucks and Tim is a Private Banker at Huntington. Both of their lovely wives, Brenna and Lauren, respectively, are employees in the Physical Therapy department at Bridgeway Therapy Center. Seeing the impact that their wives made on their clients, and understanding how important their work was, Brian and Tim wanted to give back. In 2019, over a glass of bourbon, they came up with the idea to host a golf event, where they could raise funds for Bridgeway while doing an activity they both enjoyed – golf! Since then, the golf scramble has raised over $50,000 for summer scholarships for the students at Bridgeway Academy.
2022 Bridge Builder Award Winners
The Honorable Bob Peterson:
Through his work at the Ohio Statehouse, Senator Bob Peterson was instrumental in solidifying the 2-year increase to the Ohio Autism Scholarship program. His efforts advocating for this cause at the Statehouse increased sustainability for Autism Scholarship providers like Bridgeway, and others across the state. This helped lessen the financial burden for families all over Ohio. Signed into law by Governor DeWine in the summer of 2021, the bill provided an additional $31 Million toward educational services for children with autism here in Ohio.
The Ingram White Castle Foundation:
The mission of the Ingram-White Castle Foundation is to provide nourishment to those throughout central Ohio who hunger for knowledge, independence, and self-sufficiency with an emphasis on efforts that empower young people with the desire for self-improvement, and full participation in a free society. The Ingram-White Castle Foundation has been living this mission through their work with Bridgeway, ever since their first gift in 2014. In the 8 years since, they’ve made a total investment of nearly $225,000 for the betterment of our students, clients, programs, and families.
2021 Bridge Builder Award Winners
The Honorable Laura Lanese:
Laura is a State Representative, who was sworn into the Ohio House of Representatives in January 2017 and is in her 5th term representing Ohio’s 23rd House District. Representative Lanese currently serves on the Armed Services and Veterans Affairs, Civil Justice, Financial Institutions, and Rules and Reference Committees. She is an active volunteer in her community having served on the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Committee, the Grove City’s Writer’s Group, and as the council liaison to the Grove City Chamber of Commerce.
The Honorable Erica Crawley:
State Representative Erica Crawley from Ohio’s 26th House District, was sworn into the Ohio House of Representatives in Ohio’s 133rd General Assembly, in January 2019, Representative Crawley has spent much of her life making a difference by serving others and giving people a voice through her service in the U.S. Navy and in her work advocating on behalf of children and families at Cuyahoga County Job & Family Services, YMCA Head Start/ Early Head Start Program, Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children, and the Black Child Development Institute.
