Brain Injury Awareness Month 2025: Heroes Don’t Always Wear Capes

March, which is Brain Injury Awareness Month, is always a special time for the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA). It’s an opportunity for us to spotlight the lived experience of brain injury survivors and our community.

During this year’s Awareness Month, thousands of volunteers joined our efforts to promote brain injury awareness and education by participating in a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, soliciting donations while sharing information about the complex nature of brain injury.

We are grateful to the BIAA partners who formed fundraising teams. Here are just three stories of the many individuals and teams that made our 2025 Brain Injury Awareness Month Campaign a success.

Team Kessler Rehab and Select Specialty Hospital of Northern New Jersey

As part of Select Medical, both campuses – each with their own professional teams who help brain injury survivors and their families navigate the challenges of recovery after brain injury – joined forces and went above and beyond to support our Awareness Month campaign.

Led by co-captains Ilana Kleinfeld, an occupational therapist and clinical liaison at Select Specialty Hospital, and Dr. Arielle Resnick, an advanced clinical specialist and director of the Neurologic Physical Therapy Program at Kessler, the team organized bake sales and other fundraisers, collecting donations of $1,017.

Team Gateway Clubhouse, Raleigh, North Carolina

Team Gateway Clubhouse is a member-driven space where brain injury survivors come to participate in work-ordered days with staff who are “deeply invested in the cause of brain injury awareness.”

Stephanie Vinson, director of brain injury services, was the Clubhouse’s team leader. When asked about the secret sauce that drove her team to triple their fundraising goal to support BIAA, Stephanie gladly shared her advice to promote brain injury awareness and solicit donations: “Boy, will you be surprised at how many respond! Do not be afraid to ask for support, and make sure you share your passion with enthusiasm and excitement. It is contagious.”

Team Learning Services of Northern California

Lyndsay Blakely and her teammates at Learning Services of Northern California (part of Collage Rehabilitation Partners), a community-based neurorehabilitation program, were glad to form a team to participate in this campaign for a cause that hits close to home. It was “all hands on deck – clients (TBI survivors), staff, friends, families, doctors, and community supporters working together to raise funds for brain injury awareness month,” she said.

With an initial goal of raising $1,500, their collective effort soon skyrocketed to $5,000. They organized a “Walk and Roll” where participants received a donation for each lap completed. Other fundraising activities included a car wash and bake sale, and the team enlisted the help of clients and staff when accepting payment donations, using the opportunity to promote cognitive tasks related to providing change and money management.

If you are interested in hosting a workplace fundraiser for the Brain Injury Association of America, email development@biausa.org or call 703-761-0750, ext. 645