Aspiring Kindness Foundation Donates $12k to Seton Hall CAPS

A charity in honor of the victims of the Seton Hall dormitory fire donated $12,000 to the University’s Counseling and Psychological Services program at a check presentation ceremony, Tuesday October 14.

The Aspiring Kindness Foundation was created by high school friends of Boland Hall fire victim Aaron Karol to honor him and the other young men who died in the January 2000 fire, Frank Caltabilota and John Giunta.

The money raised at the foundation’s annual charity golf outing in July surpassed the group’s fundraising goal, and all proceeds from the event were donated to Seton Hall Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).

About half of the money will be used to bring the suicide prevention exhibition, Send Silence Packing, to the Seton Hall campus. The exhibition travels to university campuses around the country to raise awareness about suicide among college students. It features 1,100 backpacks, representing the number of college students lost to suicide each year, donated by families who have experienced such a loss. The backpacks are displayed in a high-traffic area of a campus, such as the University Green, where students can walk through them.

“It is very moving to watch students walk through the exhibit, reading about the students who committed suicide and reading letters from the parents about their children,” said CAPS Director Katherine Evans. “It opens the dialogue about suicide. It touches students who may be thinking about it and helps them open up. There is information about where to get help, so they see this as not an option.”

The Aspiring Kindness Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit public corporation that raises money to support emergency responders and service providers and their programs.

Foundation President Jason Tarantino says the charity and its founding members are “proud to do this for Aaron Karol and to make people aware of the tragedy and support ways to prevent these kinds of tragedies.”

“We hope the money will further research and treatment for people in need of counseling or psychological help,” said foundation Treasurer Sean Magee. “CAPS played an important role after the fire. We wanted to recognize that and contribute to help future projects to help students in need.”

The foundation has its next fundraising event in January, Kocktails for a Cause, and has already set the date for next year’s golf outing – June 22, 2015 at the Rock Spring Club in West Orange.

Tarantino says the group of young men who started the Aspiring Kindness Foundation is passionate about remembering their friend and making something good come from the tragic fire.

“It has become a part of us,” said foundation Vice President Michael Merizio. “Our lives, our families, our children – everybody has embraced it. A lot of good is being done in Aaron’s name.”

For more information about the foundation, visitwww.aspiringkindness.org.

To learn more about Seton Hall’s Counseling and Psychological Services, visithttp://www.shu.edu/offices/counseling-services/.

Information and Photo Courtesy of Seton Hall Media Relations.

Photo Left to Right: From Aspiring Kindness Foundation - Jason Tarantino, Sean Magee and Mike Merizio; From Seton Hall CAPS - Randy Nolte, Director Katherine Evans, Priti Shah, Dianne Aguero-Trotter, Sandra Ackerman Sinclair and Jude Uy; From Seton Hall Corporation & Foundation Relations - Director Stephanie Hauge.