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Our Mission

In honor of JoJo LaRosa's memory, The Joseph LaRosa Jr Foundation aka "Forever JoJo Strong", proudly bestows scholarships to student athletes in the Three Village Community and surrounding communities across Long Island.  Our mission is to raise funds, through donations, so that we may give back to the young people of our community who embody the same qualities and characteristics of JoJo by providing scholarships to student athletes who best exemplify JoJo's remarkable and tremendous traits of resiliency, sense of community and positive attitude.  The recipients of  the scholarships have the highest level of determination, grit and perseverance.

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The response to Forever Jojo Strong has been tremendous!  Due to  the unbelievable fundraising efforts of our volunteers and the support of our generous donors of Forever JoJo Strong we are able to expand our vision and  grow our mission to reach more young people throughout Long Island who are facing the same battle JoJo did, but now off the athletic field. Through JoJo's Wish, courageous warriors will be eligible to receive their wish, the wish that JoJo would have cherished.  
 

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About JoJo

JoJo was a Long Island native and Ward Melville High School graduate, Class of 2017.  He was an avid athlete, playing both Varsity football and lacrosse.  JoJo went on to Adelphi University to begin his college career and made the Dean's List in what would be his only semester of college.  JoJo was a proud member of the Men's lacrosse team where he made friendships and connections that would be more profound than we could have imagined.

 

In January 2018  we received the devastating news that JoJo had a rare sarcoma.  JoJo fought a courageous battle against cancer for almost 4 years.  During that time we were blessed with support and generosity of our friends & family, the Three Village Community 

and the Adelphi Athletic Department.

The Foundation

We  proudly founded The Joseph LaRosa Jr. Foundation (aka "Forever JoJo Strong") as a loving tribute to honor the memory of our son Joseph "JoJo" LaRosa Jr., who left us way too soon after a long and difficult illness.  

 

To know JoJo was to love him, his smile was the best!  During his battle, JoJo's true colors really came shining through. He fought like a true warrior with an unbelievable sense of resiliency, determination and positive mindset.  Even while going through the worst of times he remained kind and caring, worried how his family was doing and encouraged us to keep on going.  JoJo also made sure to reach out to others who were in similar situations to offer them encouragement and a shoulder to lean on.  A true champion to all!

 

We choose to honor the true spirit of JoJo and remember him for who he was and not what happened to him.  His legacy is about being a champion, never giving up, remaining full of faith and trusting in God. To be generous in spirit, as JoJo was, and to empower other youth towards greatness!

 

We are humbled and honored by those that join us in celebrating JoJo's legacy and wish to be a part of our efforts to make meaningful contributions to the young people of our community.   Please consider making a donation or attending a Forever JOJO Strong event soon.

The LaRosa Family

Here we are the LaRosa Family.  Joseph, Gianna, Emily, JoJo and James. A close-knit, devoted and loving family We enjoy spending time together doing what lots of families do...

We love to joke and laugh, making fun of Dad (Joseph) is something our kids are great at and get a big kick out of.  We spend a lot, I mean a lot, of time enjoying all kinds of sports, lacrosse, football, hockey and soccer when the kids were younger, swim meets and wrestling for a season or two, track, basketball, golf and hitting the gym here and there.  Our family was probably a lot like yours, until one day we weren't.  We are a hard working, God loving, devoted couple blessed with three amazing, beautiful, smart, healthy children and then one day without warning, it all changed and it kept changing.  Then one day our family was never the same.  But one thing has never changed,  our love. Our love of God, for each other,  for our three beautiful children, our friends and family, and our community.  While things were changing into something that we never could have expected or prepared for, we definitely did not anticipate the outpouring of love and support from not just friends and family but from people in our community, some people that we didn't even really know, that went above and beyond to hold us up, demonstrating the true meaning of strength.  Most of us have heard the phrase "it takes a village", it implies it takes many people working together, cooperatively to achieve a goal.  What most people don't get to experience is what happens when that village is our Three Village.  That experience is something that our family is eternally grateful for and will never forget.  That experience is, in part, what makes us Forever JoJo Strong  and our gratitude is what motivates us to give back to those that gave us strength when we needed it most.

We choose to honor the true spirit of JoJo and remember him for who he was and not what happened to him.  His legacy is about being a champion, never giving up, remaining full of faith and trusting in God. To be generous in spirit, as JoJo was, and to empower other youth towards greatness!

We Are

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The Joseph LaRosa Jr. Board Members (from left to right): Bob Pryor, Dave Purdy, Ray McKenna, Joseph LaRosa, Gianna LaRosa, Kathy Savastano, Brian McGinley, Mike Cunningham.

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