Florida law firm enhances lives through charitable foundation
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Attorney Spotlight
Florida law firm enhances lives through charitable foundation
By Tom Kirvan
Florida Attorney Mark Warzecha gets a kick out of helping kids.
For the past 10 years, the intellectual property attorney and his law firm, Widerman Malek in Melbourne, have organized an annual kickball tournament and family fun day to raise funds for the purchase of medical devices and other necessities for disabled children in the Space Coast community of Brevard County.
The No Bad Days Foundation began as Warzecha’s brainchild with a special assist from its first beneficiary, a now 12-year-old boy by the name of Owen Johnson, who suffered a spinal cord injury at the age of 2 when his parents’ car was rear-ended by a drunk driver. His 4-year-old sister was killed in the accident, and he was rendered a quadriplegic.
“It was a devastating loss for the family and the community at-large,” says Warzecha. “There are really no words to describe it.”
The loss would soon be compounded by word that insurance would not cover the $35,000 cost of a much-needed piece of medical equipment that would help keep Owen’s muscles from atrophying, according to Warzecha.
Mark Warzecha
“That’s when I decided we had to do something to help come up with the money for Owen’s long-term health in the hope that someday there will be a cure for spinal cord injuries,” Warzecha relates.
So, Warzecha and his colleagues at Widerman Malek hatched plans for a fund-raising event in the form of a kickball tournament, rallying community support in a most remarkable way by generating $40,000 in proceeds.
“We were really winging it that first year, since none of us had ever really been involved in a charitable activity of that type,” he admits. “You’d think that a bunch of attorneys would know how to follow all the rules, but everyone knew that our hearts were in the right place. I think all of us at the firm would agree that it was the most rewarding experience we’d ever been involved in.”
Warzecha says seeing the community come together to help the family was “magical.”
After such a great start, Warzecha, employees of Widerman Malek, and friends decided to build upon the momentum by creating the “Kickin’ It for Hope Foundation,” a 501(c)(3) charity that could help other children in need of life-changing medical devices.
The law firm covers the expenses of the event, allowing 100 percent of the money raised through the kickball tournament to go directly to the purchase of medical equipment.
Among the equipment purchased by the foundation are all-terrain wheelchairs, power lifts, special car seats, sturdy strollers, safety sleeper beds, and much more. Some specialty purchases, said Warzecha, can run into the thousands of dollars, while others cost far less.
“I particularly remember a family whose son suffers from epileptic seizures and oftentimes would bang his head against the wall because of them,” says Warzecha. “Insurance denied the purchase of a soft-sided helmet, deeming it ‘unnecessary’ even though it cost just $95. When we stepped in and funded the purchase, the boy’s mom was absolutely overjoyed.”
In 2020, the foundation supplied the family of a young girl with an Early Intervention Therapy Kit – a positioning device – to assist her with sitting by herself.
“We are so excited to have something that is tailored to our daughter’s needs and will provide her the opportunity to further grow developmentally in ways we haven’t been able to safely do at home,” the girl’s mother wrote in a testimonial to the foundation’s mission. “We are also thankful to have something that we believe will foster more awareness and inclusion for the medically complex/special needs community both within our home and in other people’s.
“More often than not we have to fight for even the most basic medically necessary things our daughter needs. We experience more denials, resources being taken away, and being told we do not qualify,” the mother added. “Our eyes have been opened to how broken things actually are since we ourselves became immersed into a community we knew very little about before our daughter was born.”
The catalyst for the creation of the No Bad Days Foundation, young Owen Johnson shares a smile with attorney Mark Warzecha at the 10th anniversary of a recent kickball tournament that helps supply funding for the charitable organization. Those interested in supporting the foundation can visit info@nobaddaysfoundation.com.
Several months ago, on February 4, the 10th anniversary of the fund-raiser took place on a glorious sun-splashed day in Melbourne, generating another $15,000 or so for the foundation, which was renamed several years ago thanks to the inspiring attitude of its original recipient.
“One of Owen’s teachers was going around the room asking each student about what qualified as a ‘bad day’ in their mind,” Warzecha said. “When she got to Owen, he said, ‘There are no bad days.’ After hearing that story from Owen’s mother, we decided to change the name of the foundation. It seemed especially fitting.”
The countless hours spent by Warzecha and his team inside the firm organizing the event is evident through the outpouring of donations, sponsors, and volunteers from the community.
“We are incredibly grateful to have the community inside our firm and throughout Central Florida who work to make this world a better place through small acts of kindness,” said Warzecha. “These people are the embodiment of no bad days.”
The next kickball tournament and fundraiser will be Jan. 27, 2024. More information about the foundation can be found at https://nobaddaysfoundation.com/.