Bringing children joy and happiness seems to be life’s calling for Larry Wilberding.
Aside from raising four children with his wife of 55 years, Robin, the couple also have 13 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. When Wilberding retired following a 23-year career with the Ingham County Road Commission, he eventually came to work at Dean as a bus driver for Ingham ISD in the Mason area.
“I’m now wrapping up my 16th year with the company,” he said.
And his work at Dean is somewhat connected to what is perhaps Wilberding’s biggest contribution to children: Enhancing the lives of thousands of students with disabilities from the Greater Lansing area and beyond through his nonprofit, Just Breathe Music.
For 11 of his 16 years at Dean, Wilberding was able to drive one of his grandchildren, Taylor, to school. Taylor was born with cerebral palsy and has very limited use of the left side of her body.
“The doctors told us that she really wouldn’t have a strong quality of life,” he explained. “(But) they were completely wrong. She does everything. She graduated from Mason High School; and when she got her diploma, she walked across the stage and received it. She’s quite the young lady.
“One day, I picked her up (from school), and I had to stop by Dean to turn in my time,” Wilberding said. “Once we left, Taylor said, ‘Grandpa, I’d like to play the guitar.’ Well, I told her that it would be hard for her to play the guitar because she cannot use her left hand.
“But I told her, ‘We’ll go to Marshall Music. I have an idea.’”
When the two of them got to the Lansing music store, Wilberding purchased three harmonicas.
“I told my daughter, if Taylor can play the harmonica with one hand, how many other kids out there are only able to play (an instrument) with one hand? I told her, if I could win a grant, I could buy harmonicas for a lot of kids,” he said.
Determined to make a difference, Wilberding decided to create a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
“I had to come up with a name for the nonprofit,” he said. “On one of the harmonica boxes, it read, ‘Just breathe.’ Well, we were talking about what we might like to call the program. And I said, ‘How about Just Breathe Music?’”
Wilberding donates his own time and money but does rely on donations to help his foundation thrive.
One of those who has been heavily involved and supportive of Just Breathe Music is Dean CEO Kellie Dean.
“He is a big supporter of what we’re doing. He’s donated a lot to Just Breathe Music,” Wilberding said.
Wilberding regularly visits a number of schools and classes in the Greater Lansing area, including the Beekman Center in Lansing and the Heartwood School in Mason.
He has also made some special trips out of the state. He joined forces with a nonprofit band called All Music is Power (AMP), which was founded by Donny Brown, the original drummer for The Verve Pipe.
Now, more than a decade later, Wilberding has been able to hand out more than 6,000 harmonicas to children with disabilities from across the state.
“The kids love it,” he said. “And that’s why I do it. To see the joy it brings to their faces makes it all worth it. It’s what keeps me busy. It’s what keeps me going.”
