Children’s charities are a very critical component of our foundation. Having children with special needs in his own family has prompted Anthony to dedicate much of his time in pursuit of helping families with disabled or sick children. Providing financial relief in hopes of alleviating stress while coping with a sick child is a major accomplishment of the foundation.
Elyse has Apert’s Syndrome and has endured as many as eleven surgeries that has the family traveling to Texas for her care. As you can imagine the expense to her family has been daunting. Our foundation helped to defray some of those costs. Elise’s fundraiser helped raise over $20 ,000. towards her medical bills while she still faces future surgeries. Despite all of this, Elyse is a happy little princess as evidenced here in these pictures from her big night. Even having a fractured foot could not dampen her spirits that night. She is such a resilient and beautiful little girl!
Apert’s Syndrome is a genetic disease in which the seams between the skull bones close earlier than normal during prenatal development. Children with this syndrome have many developmental issues such as fused or webbed fingers and toes, cognitive impairments, hydrocephalus, eyelids that can’t close completely, and compromised airways to name just a few. The face and head are also unable to grow normally resulting in shallow eye sockets, bulging eyes, sunken appearance in the middle of the face, spinal fusion in the neck.
Big Animals for Little Kids is a charitable organization that specializes in providing Magical Moments, joy and laughter to children who are ill or coping with physical or emotional difficulties. More than 50 annual hospital and family shelter visits by costumed volunteers including Santa Clause brings happiness to these struggling families. AMF Foundation has been a valuable financial resource for this organization for years and Anthony has even played Santa at some of their events. Judging by the happy smiling faces, a great time was enjoyed by all, and the children were able to forget about their trials for a while.
Every year, AMF Foundation contributes to Walk for Kids, which raises money for Ronald Mc Donald House of Central and Northern New Jersey. The foundation sponsors Team Seth Andree whose family spent 111 days at the house while their son Seth was in the NICU at Children’s Specialized Hospital. In gratitude for the care and love they received from Ronald McDonald House, they organize this yearly event to raise funds to donate to help other families. AMF contributes and wishes Seth well. Seth is pictured here with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck…he’s the one in the red shirt.
Children’s Specialized Hospital is also a recipient of the foundations’ largesse. Anthony has sponsored the wheelchair program that specializes in custom fitting wheelchairs for children to specifically accommodate their individual and distinct requirements. This includes those with severe developmental delays, ventilator dependent children, and complex disabilities like brain and spinal cord injuries. His donations have enabled the wheelchair department to cover the cost of appointments that were not covered by insurance, and to insure that the Rehab Technology Department could serve the patients to the fullest to help enhance their quality of life. Pictured here is Anthony and the foundations administrators, Sheri and Florence.
The Anthony M. Fernicola Foundation has also provided financial support to children afflicted with Autism. Helping the family defray some of the costs of continuing medical bills, the foundation also finances the Direct Support Provider funds for caretaker support for the families. This has allowed much needed respite for those coping with the care of an autistic child.
The Anthony M. Fernicola Foundation has been a benefactor of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital for many years. These donations have contributed to the research and care of children with cancer and other life- threating diseases. Because of this monetary support, families of sick children never receive a bill for anything. Treatment, travel, housing and food are all provided for free for families affected by their child’s illness.
Shriner’s Hospital is another institution that helps every child regardless of the family’s ability to pay. They are committed to treating medical issues that other hospitals cannot. They care for medical matters such as spinal cord injuries, cleft palate, burns and orthopedic issues. With the help of our foundation, they can continue providing quality care for those families in desperate need. Along with treatment, the hospital also conducts research focused on finding better alternatives for these serious afflictions.
