With a contagious enthusiasm for life and laughter, Jody Helmuth was an inspiration
to his friends and family to live life to the fullest. Jody’s smile came to define
his magnetic personality. While he was taken from us far too soon, Jody’s inspiration
is still very much alive today, and is in fact the driving force behind the
Joseph D. Helmuth Foundation. This Foundation is Jody’s Legacy.
The Helmuth Foundation traces its roots to 2002, and the first annual Joseph D. Helmuth
Memorial Golf Classic. The original purpose of the outing was simple; to help raise
money to assist the Helmuth family with the overwhelming burden of Jody’s
medical bills. It was one small way to let Jody, and his family, know how much he
meant to us. While the Golf Classic was a great success for its contributions to
the Helmuth Fund, which in addition to Jody’s medical expenses, directed funds to
Lymphoma research and an educational trust in Jody’s name, it was obvious to all
those who participated that the outing’s greatest achievement could be assigned
no monetary value. The Golf Classic proved the perfect occasion for friends and
family to unite and celebrate Jody’s life, to share stories and fond memories, and
to remind us to embrace life as Jody so characteristically did. In only its
third year, the Golf Classic has quickly become one of the most anticipated
calendar days of the year for most participants.
Recognizing that Jody’s was just one story of inspiration and need, in 2004, our
organization made the decision to register as a non-profit foundation to broaden
our contributions to the community and those members that are faced with equally
challenging circumstances as Jody and his family. The guiding principles and
goals of the Joseph D. Helmuth Foundation today remain the same as those for which
the foundation was originally conceived, namely: contributions towards education
and medical research and relief for distressed families.
And at the root of each of these goals, and perhaps most important of all,
comes the social fulfillment of remembering a lost loved one and the opportunity
for other friends and families to keep someone’s spirit alive in the
community, as has been the case for Jody.
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