Joey Pizzano Memorial Fund

Description

With a mission to improve the lives of children with special needs and their families, the Joey Pizzano Memorial Fund (JPMF) is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 by Joey's parents. After the tragic drowning of 6-year-old Joey, Robert and Paola Pizzano created the fund to honor Joey's love of the water and provide water safety education programs for other children with disabilities.

JPMF provides networking, funding, and equipment for unique programs and community awareness for individuals with disabilities. In 2001, the award winning Splash program was established teaching children with special needs how to be safe and have fun in and around the water.

Since then, thousands of children in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area have participated in the program, in which volunteers- under the guidance of a water safety instructor- are paired one on one with participants to assist them with skill-building games and exercises.