In June of 1999, Jennifer Di Reeno, a lifelong resident of Reading, MA succumbed to cancer (melanoma) just four weeks after her 21st birthday. Jen was a student at the University of Rhode Island. She is the oldest child of Wally and Patty Di Reeno. Her younger sister, Kimberly, graduated in June of 2003 from Syracuse University.

Following Jen’s death, a lifelong neighborhood friend, Tom Ensminger, brought together several of Jen’s friends and family members to talk about ways to honor Jen and to deal with their own grief. Together, they decided to organize a foundation in Jen’s name. In the Fall of 2000, The Jen Di Reeno Foundation, Inc. was created. Subsequently, the Foundation received 501 (c) 3 non-profit status.
 
Now, over six years later, the Foundation has matured into a group of people committed to tell the world about Jen – her love of and philosophy on life, her determination, her ability to support family and friends, how she coped with her cancer and how she ultimately faced her own death. While close friends and family members recognize that the hurt and grief of losing Jen will never go away, it is our hope that each time the Foundation plans an event or holds a meeting, some of that hurt and grief changes into healing.

This is the message the Foundation brings to teens and young adults dealing with grief caused by the presence of cancer, other serious illness, and life’s critical challenges in their lives or the lives of family and friends. You can heal. You can go on. You can live. You can be good to each other. Foundation members now turn their grief into energy, commitment, hard work, and love. Jen Di Reeno’s family and friends truly believe that Jen is smiling down on everyone and saying, “nice work, guys.”

The Jen Di Reeno Foundation, Inc. is currently managed by a 18-member Board of Directors. The day-to-day operational leadership is the responsibility of an Executive Committee comprised of Patty and Wally Di Reeno (Co-Chairs), the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board members. Four standing committees carry out the operational and programmatic responsibilities of the Foundation.