\u201cBasically, it\u2019s a mini-Rosary at work, all of the time,\u201d Brundige said, later adding, \u201cI run a small sorority house.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyonc\u00e9 once sang that girls run the world; Brundige is doing her best to hold up her end of the bargain.<\/p>\n
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Rosary Academy alumna Katie Webb Brundige, pictured at her home in Orange.<\/p>\n
(Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n
Brundige and Clem started Rising Above Disabilities (RAD) Camp<\/a> in 2014 with about 60 campers. This summer, more than 260 adults and children with developmental disabilities took part over three sessions, and a recent gala raised more than $500,000.<\/p>\n What sets Irvine-based RAD Camp apart from many others, Brundige said, is that parents or caregivers don\u2019t need to tag along.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can just drop them off, and we have 24\/7 nursing care, we have one-on-one volunteer support, so they\u2019re fully taken care of,\u201d she said. \u201cIt takes the burden off the family for that week, so they can get the respite they so desperately need, and the campers can have independence.\u201d<\/p>\n The number 60 also is significant for Brundige\u2019s alma mater. Rosary<\/a> celebrates six decades in existence this year, and the Fullerton school held its 60th anniversary Royal Gala Sept. 13.<\/p>\n Katie Webb Brundige plays with her adopted son, Riley, at their home in Orange. Riley has Down syndrome.<\/p>\n (Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n Brundige<\/a>, who was in Rosary\u2018s class of 2003, was honored at the gala.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of our charism (a Christian term for a spiritual gift) is to serve the dear neighbor without distinction, and she\u2019s really done that,\u201d Rosary Head of School Shawna Pautsch said. \u201cShe\u2019s created these wonderful opportunities for these students, these campers, individuals trying to rise above their disability. It gives them those opportunities to really think bigger and do more, to have their life dramatically changed in some way by being able to participate in camp.\u201d<\/p>\n Brundige\u2019s advocacy for special needs children goes beyond business hours, extending to her Orange home. She and her husband have adopted two.<\/p>\n Alex, 6, has autism and Prader-Willi syndrome, a rare genetic disorder partially characterized by a chronic hunger.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think of like the \u2018hangry\u2019-ist you\u2019ve ever felt in your life, that is how he\u2019ll live every day,\u201d Brundige said.<\/p>\n Katie Webb Brundige and her son, Riley, at their home in Orange.<\/p>\n (Don Leach \/ Staff Photographer)<\/p>\n Riley, who is almost 4, has Down syndrome. October is National Down Syndrome Awareness Month<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brundige was partially inspired to serve the disability community by her late uncle, who had cerebral palsy and died a few years ago. He lived in Canada, and she didn\u2019t get to see him often, but her passion was sparked.<\/p>\n \u201cBack in the day, people with disabilities were basically put in homes and told that they were useless, but my grandma fought for him and advocated from a very early time, when it wasn\u2019t cool to do so,\u201d she said. \u201cShe was like my biggest role model. His presence in my life was definitely a game changer.\u201d<\/p>\n She started volunteering at a different special needs camp while attending Rosary, before going to college at San Diego State.<\/p>\n Rosary has seen opportunities blossom for women in general since the school was founded in 1965 and wants to continue providing for its young women for decades to come.<\/p>\n At last month\u2019s gala, Rosary introduced the new Rosary Royals Foundation, a permanent endowment to secure funding and provide tuition assistance.<\/p>\n Pautsch said the goal is to give students the confidence to go out and take on the world \u2014 not just for college, but for life.<\/p>\n Katie Webb Brundage, left, pictured with Rosary Academy Head of School Shawna Pautsch at the school\u2019s 60th anniversary Royal Gala on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n (Courtesy of Rosary Academy)<\/p>\n \u201cThey are future mothers and attorneys and doctors and teachers, and possible Nobel laureates, everything else they\u2019re going to go off and do,\u201d Pautsch said. \u201cWe want to make sure that when they leave here, they really have that confidence and belief in who they are and what they can do. That\u2019s based on who we are as a Catholic institution as well. They have that faith as their base, and they are enough to take on whatever they want to do in their life.\u201d<\/p>\n Pautsch is in her ninth year as head of school at Rosary, which has 460 students, but she has been at the school for more than three decades overall. In that time, she\u2019s seen some alumnae do some remarkable things.<\/p>\n Another member of Brundige\u2019s class, Jenn McCall, became the first female referee from the United States to referee water polo<\/a> at the Olympics last year in Paris.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in a panel one time, and there was a girl who was working at NASA, and someone else was a financial advisor who was making millions of dollars,\u201d Brundige said. \u201cI was like, \u2018I shouldn\u2019t even be in this panel.\u2019 So much talent has come out of there, and I think it\u2019s so cool that everyone keeps coming back to show the current girls that you can do whatever you want.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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