Jett Foundation is thrilled to share that Cure Dale’s Duchenne has presented the foundation with a $1 million dollar gift in support of its Jett Giving Fund program. The program’s two arms of financial assistance for families impacted by Duchenne muscular dystrophy include the Accessible Vehicle Fund and the Emergency Fund.
Cure Dale’s Duchenne was founded with a focus on support towards research efforts for Duchenne. While they realize supporting research is still important, they also acknowledge the incredible need that families impacted by Duchenne face day to day. In 2017, Cure Dale’s Duchenne made its first gift to the Jett Giving Fund program and has been generously helping Jett Foundation get families behind the wheel of accessible vehicles with their annual support ever since.
Cure Dale’s Duchenne was inspired to give at a significantly higher level after their annual meeting with Jett Foundation when they learned of the incomprehensible growing need in the community this year. Jett Foundation’s Accessible Vehicle Fund received 53 eligible applications and the foundation has seen an increasing demand for its Emergency Fund assistance.
“We were blown away by how many families just couldn’t provide what was needed for their boys. It’s hard enough to have a child with Duchenne, much less provide for these very costly and critical needs,” says Lelia Ginder, co-founder of Cure Dale’s Duchenne.
This year, Jett Foundation initially accepted nine families into its Accessible Vehicle Fund program. Many of the families in this year’s program include multiple sons with Duchenne. Each family story came with unique heart-wrenching challenges and hardships including single-parent families, other family members with critical medical needs, recently unhoused families, and more.
“Jett Foundation has a proven track record of transparency and genuine support for families in our community,” says co-founder Rick Ginder. “We trust in the work they are doing and rather than reinvent the wheel, Jett has already got the footwork done and the community knows to look to Jett Foundation for help.”
This transformational gift has allowed Jett Foundation to add five additional families–including 9 young men with Duchenne–into the 2023 recipient pool. This brings the program’s total impact in 2023 to 14 families and 22 individuals with Duchenne. Their gift will also make it possible for Jett Foundation to break down families’ barriers to living life to the fullest through the Emergency Fund. The Emergency Fund provides a helping hand in unexpected, difficult times with smaller grants for groceries, utilities, housing payments, funeral costs, and more.
“Cure Dale’s Duchenne’s generosity year after year has truly helped us build out a high-efficiency program with dramatic impact in our community,” said Eric Snyder, Jett Foundation’s Executive Director. “Our goal is to reach every family who needs our help. This gift is transformational and brings us a step closer to that goal.”
The gift comes on the heels of a recent mission-sustaining $1 million dollar endowment gift from Rob and Karen Hale’s family foundation, the Fox Rock Foundation.
“The need is now. This community is in need now.”
“The need is now. This community is in need now. The research will come, but if we all gave a little now, we could greatly improve the lives of families and their children right now,” says the Ginders. “Our gift is just touching the surface. Just as we were inspired by the recent generosity of the Hale family’s gift to Jett Foundation, we hope that our support also encourages others to give so we can support as many families as possible together.”
Since 2017, Jett Foundation has gifted over $3.5 million in financial assistance and accessible vehicles to nearly 100 families in need across the country through the Jett Giving Fund. To help bridge the gap of need and make a critical contribution to the Duchenne community, please consider becoming involved and making a gift today at jettfoundation.org/donate.
