ORLANDO, Fla. — When someone we know or love comes down with an illness, it inspires many of us to try to bring awareness or volunteer for that particular cause. 

That is how Rebecca Addison got started with her volunteer work with the American Lung Association.

What You Need To Know

  •  Rebecca Addison began volunteering at the American Lung Association to honor her father

  •  While volunteering, she not only climbs in a yearly fundraiser, but she helps organize for the event    

  •  The American Lung Association Orlando area hosted its Fight For Air Climb in early March

Addison says her parents were always there for her when she was growing up. If they couldn’t be there physically, she still always knew they were there.

Even though her father used to be on the road quite a bit for work, Addison always knew he was there, anyway.

“I used to wait every day. I would wait at the door until he was out of sight,” Addison says. “I was a little kid, like second grade, and then I would e-mail him all the time.”

Shortly after college, Addison says her father started to have a tough time catching his breath.

In 2018, he was told he needed a lung transplant after being diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis lung disease.

In 2019, he was put on a transplant list, and that’s when Rebecca Addison began climbing in the Fight for Air Climb, and volunteering with the American Lung Association.

“People always have commitments after work, but I am always excited to come,” Addison says. “I am always excited to see everyone.”

From folding shirts, helping organize events, fundraising and, of course, climbing, she commits year round to the Orlando Lung Association.

When Addison is decked out in a shirt from the local organization, she also wears an ALA pin in the shape of lungs. The pin isn’t worn to be decorative supporting a cause. It means more than that.

Just a few years after receiving a lung transplant, Addison’s father died. 

“He [Her father] passed in November 2023 from complications from bilateral lung transplants,” Addison says, holding back tears. “I want to wear it and honor him. He’s my reason why I joined and signed up for this commitment.”

To honor him, she continues to support and volunteer.

“She is pure electricity and so passionate about her involvement,” says Amy Brown, the senior manager of development for ALA Orlando. “She has rallied such a supportive group of friends and family.”

Since moving to Central Florida, Addison has participated in ALA Fight For Air Climbs at City National Bank Tower, a virtual climb because of COVID-19 in 2020 and at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando.