“Each year for the kids' birthdays, we do a ‘birthday giveback project,” Whitney Budd tells me, a strand of blonde hair falling over her shoulder. “We began noticing when they were young that they were being ‘love bombed’ with material things - things they would play with for a couple days and never pick up again, get lost, broken, or we just simply did not have the space for anymore. That’s when the Birthday Giveback Projects began.”

For the last six years, Whitney and her husband, Ryan, have encouraged and led their four children in giving to a nonprofit of their choice. “Instead of asking for gifts for themselves, they ask for gifts for the nonprofit,” says Whitney. Over the years, the four Budd children, Brock (11), Bronson and Braxton (twins, 8), and Brinley (7), have chosen to donate to several organizations including Toys for Tots, Turning Point, Hope Food Bank, Riley Cheer Guild, The Humane Society, Atterbury Refugees, Sheriff’s Department, and more. “The kids have collected hundreds of items, maybe even thousands at this point,” Whitney says, “and it has taught them an even greater lesson - to see others before yourself.”

Ryan and Whitney met in 2006 when Ryan moved to Columbus from North Carolina to pursue a job offer in the automotive industry. “He got on to MySpace - I know, really showing our age here!” Whitney laughs, “and he did a quick search of people in a 25 mile radius to see if he recognized any friends he had when he lived here during elementary school. My picture came up, he sent me a message and the rest is history!”

Ryan, a huge Notre Dame fan, recalls his favorite memory with Whitney. “On our third date, I told Whitney that I’d marry the girl who took me to a Notre Dame game,” he laughs. 

Whitney wanted to help make his dream of seeing Notre Dame play a reality. She worked hard to save enough money - making only $8 an hour teaching preschool - and surprised him with a trip to a ND game in 2009. “I proposed a year later at our second Notre Dame game in front of Touchdown Jesus,” says Ryan.

Reflecting on her memories with Ryan, Whitney says some of her favorites were the hard times when they had to dig deep to find each other again. “As difficult as those valleys of our marriage were, I am so grateful we had them and that it has led us to where we are today,” she recalls. “There were several years that we were working to save money to purchase the land to build our house. Ryan worked in the automotive industry while helping my uncle with his plumbing and heating business on the weekends. I taught preschool, worked at a laundry mat on the weekends, and delivered newspapers on Sundays. I think it was through those times that I was able to recognize both the hard work we each could put in to build a life we wanted, and I knew if we could hold on to that persistence and dedication in our marriage, we would be okay.” 

It’s that same persistence and dedication that prompted Whitney and a friend to start a nonprofit in 2018, Students’ Fund of Hope, SFOH. “SFOH has kept us busy the last 6 years. In 2019 we formally organized as a 501c3 and have a board of ten members now,” says Whitney. 

SFOH works to identify the needs of children in Flatrock-Hawcreek schools and help alleviate financial burdens to families in need. “This may look like depleted lunch accounts, basic needs such as food, water, and electricity, homelessness, clothing, extra curricular activity help, and more. Our mission is to meet the needs of all kids in need of assistance to help them become successful at home and at school,” Whitney tells me. 

Meeting the needs of kids in her community has always been close to Whitney’s heart. After graduating from Hauser High School in Bartholomew County in 2007, she pursued a degree from Ivy Tech in Early Education and has spent her entire adult life in the Early Ed field. 

Whitney recently accepted a position with the Flatrock-Hawcreek Schools as the Early Learning Coordinator. “We’ve been able to open up a daycare and early learning program for our staff and students within our school district to help retain our young teachers that we were losing because they couldn’t find childcare.”

Ryan graduated from Grey’s Creek High School in North Carolina in 2005. He is the Technical Services manager at Toyota Material Handling. His degree is from Purdue University in Organizational Leadership and Supervision. He is currently in night school through Purdue Global pursuing his bachelor's degree in Business Management and will begin his MBA in February.

Much of Whitney and Ryan’s time as parents is driving kids to and from practices, meets, games, and competitions. 

“Brock plays baseball, basketball, football, and runs in his school running club. He and Ryan have completed the Indy Kids 5k the last two years with this club!” says Whitney. Brock loves to run and even boats a 6 minute, 31 second mile!

Bronson plays football, basketball, baseball, and wants to join the school soccer team this year as well. Braxton plays football, basketball, and baseball. “It’s so fun to watch the twins play together. They seem to have this ‘twin telepathy’ figured out and often know where the other is moving or planning on the court or field without talking outloud,” Whitney says. 

The natural cheerleader of the bunch, Brinley is in her fifth season with Columbus Power Elite, a competitive cheer gym here in Columbus. “She recently finished softball and is adamant that she will ‘never pick up a bat again especially after she does her nails!’” Whitney laughs. “She also played biddy basketball at school. I say ‘played’ loosely because oftentimes she chose to do cartwheels down the court while chanting ‘LETS GO JETS!’ rather than dribbling the ball.” 

Along with their four kids, Whitney and Ryan are also an important part of a support system for three more boys who are close to their family. “One of my best friends passed away in a car wreck in August of last year,” Whitney says. “She left behind three boys that are the same age as our kids and we have been so lucky to be able to help her parents take care of them. Oftentimes we have seven kids instead of just our four. It’s loud and often messy but we love every second of it!”

The Budd family lives in the Rivergrove Subdivision, where they built a home in 2014. “We moved here because we loved the area,” Whitney says. “It’s quiet, quaint, none of the houses looked alike, and there was no HOA. The biggest bonus was that it was in our FRHC school district and that was important to me for my children to attend Hope Elementary and Hauser because of my fond memories there.”

The Budd family feels so at home in their neighborhood. “We could not ask for better neighbors,” they say. “Our kids always have friends to play with and our neighbors are always up to sharing a cup of sugar, getting a kiddo off of a school bus, or grabbing the mail for each other. It’s a great group of people!”

When Whitney and Ryan built their house, they had planned to only have two kids, but before we knew it, two became four. “We had bought another piece of land to build again but after contemplating the current housing market we decided to sell the land and we spontaneously took a trip to Disney World,” Ryan and Whitney say. 

Whitney recalls walking through the park to Cinderella's Castle. “My kids were saying ‘Mama, what's wrong?’ as I wiped tears away and I just remember having to take a second and take it all in. I couldn’t believe we were able to take our kids there.”

Whitney goes on to reveal that so often in much of her adolescent life, she had contemplated if life was worth fighting, “That moment,” she says, “with the family we had created was such a pivotal moment for me. ‘Out of the ashes,’ I whispered to myself. ‘Out of the ashes.’”

To their community, the Budd family would like to share this message.

“We would love it if you felt comfortable enough with us to share your story and reach out if you need encouragement, support, or assistance. It is very important to us to give back to others and to teach our children that they’re never too small to make a difference in the life of someone else.”

“Ryan and I have made so many amazing memories together over the last 18 years,” says Whitney. “The births of our children, building our home, breaking the cycle of generational trauma, and creating our own family traditions stand out the most to us. We have worked hard to build everything we had dreamt and yearned for as kids and oftentimes we have to pinch ourselves in disbelief that this is our life.”