Johnny M Foundation Charity

On November 9th 2005, our lives were changed forever. Johnny, our precious son, suddenly passed away at the young age of three. Our family was on vacation in Orlando, at the Nickelodeon hotel in Universal Studios, when he awoke in the middle of the night and died between my husband John and me. Johnny had wanted to go there for six months before he passed, carry the Nickelodeon magazine in his backpack waiting to meet SpongeBob and all his friends. After such an awful tragedy it seemed only fitting to create something tangible in our son’s memory. The Ronald McDonald House of Camden was always very special to our family so of course that’s where we wanted to start.

The Ronald McDonald House lends many families the opportunity to be together while their loved ones get life changing or life saving surgeries. Our son was never sick, so we never had the opportunity to try and save him, but so many children are and the Ronald McDonald House is a wonderful place for them to come and recover. Our son loved other children so much and even at his young age he reached out to them at preschool and would always make boys and girls feel special and reassured that it was going to be, “ok”. With donations from many friends, business associates and family, along with Universal Studios, we created a wonderful SpongeBob room at the house for many families to reside.

SpongeBob is loved by boys and girls alike, and is a huge favorite to stay in there. Since then, the home has expanded, needing lots of other donations to finish their expansion, and we then raised more money to lend a hand in their completion. In 2011 we created a Toddler Play Room and named it Johnny’s Clubhouse, which has been enjoyed by many young children since its completion.