FUNK - ZITIELLO FOUNDATION, INC.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA

MISSION & BACKGROUND The FUNK-ZITIELLO FOUNDATION was launched in 2016 and kicking off Champions for Hope campaign to help others in our community. Champions for Hope is all about serving those who are dealing with extraordinary obstacles. Any one of us has the opportunity every day to be a champion for someone in need. We are asking you to become a champion for two tremendous causes very dear to our hearts: the JT Townsend Foundation and pancreas cancer research. To understand why these two missions are so important, here is our story. Champions Tour player and 2005 PLAYERS Champion, Fred Funk, and Jacksonville businessman Tommy Zitiello first met in 1993 as next-door neighbors. Tommy established the infamous Funks’ Punks fan club to follow and cheer on Fred while playing on the TOUR. The club incorporated hundreds of Jacksonville community members for parties, cheering, and a heck of a good time in support of favorite TOUR player – Fred Funk. As years past, Fred and Tommy saw the incredible spirit in the Funks’ Punks – they knew this crew could channel that spirit into serving those who were struggling in our community. This is when Fred met a young high school senior who was recently paralyzed from an accident at a football game – JT Townsend. JT Townsend changed both Fred and Tommy forever. What started as a neighborly effort to help a local Episcopal High School student with a wheel-chair accessible home grew into a lifelong mission to support and aid those dealing with tremendous obstacles. Along with JT, they created a foundation built around aiding the First Coast community who stood by JT’s side during his recovery. Though JT passed away in 2013, the charity’s doors remain open to carry our beloved JT’s legacy forward. Today, the JT Townsend Foundation has helped 300 families with over $600,000 in adaptive equipment with Tommy’s wife, Judi, as the foundation board chair. Judi will soon be a four year pancreas cancer survivor. Since her diagnosis in 2014, her mission is to be a voice and champion for all of those suffering from this deadly cancer. The Funk-Zitiello Foundation will support two causes in 2018— Helping families living with disabilities through the JT Townsend Foundation & Supporting critical Pancreatic Cancer Research through Mayo Clinic To us, this is more than a golf tournament. It is personal. We hope you’ll join our mission and become a The JT Townsend Foundation (JTTF) was established in 2008 with a mission to help children and adults living with disabilities on the First Coast with financial assistance and adaptive equipment often denied by insurance and to fund spinal cord injury research. While JT was with us, he would instruct his sisters how to assemble the equipment and they would drive him to deliver each piece. He loved to spend time with the recipients and their families. The families felt inspired them and hopefully every time JT visited them. After JT’s sudden passing, JT’s dream continues on. To date, JTTF has helped over 300 families with $600,000 given in assistance and equipment. Carmen Townsend, JT’s mother work daily on the giving team for JTTF. She handles the phones, works up the applications, orders the equipment, and delivers each piece keeping JT’s good work going. JTTF truly understands the great needs of this community. The JTTF team is a blessing and a source of faith, support, and inspiration to all who welcome them into their homes. In 2017, Champions for Hope provided $200,000 giving JTTF the opportunity to deliver a piece of equipment each week to a person in need. Champions for Hope will specifically help fund research for pancreas cancer early detection. Judi’s own surgeon, Dr. Horacio Asbun at the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, Florida will advise the Zitiello family of the most deserving and qualified research programs. “Dr. Asbun is the human my family credits with saving my life.” says Judi Zitiello. “He is a brilliant surgeon who specializes in pancreatic cancer and will lead us to the most deserving and qualified researcher wherever they might be throughout the country or the world.” In 2017, Champions for Hope provided $250,000 to Mayo Clinic. These funds along with those from an anonymous donor who gave Mayo $230,000 in Judi’s honor and $70,000 from the Florida Pancreas Cancer Coalition collectively, $550,000 funded three projects recommended by Mayo Dr. Copeland, Asbun and Wallace. Together, we will impact this research and impact lives in the near future.