Joey Di Paolo AIDS Foundation/Camp TLC

Description

The Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation was created in 1996 by Carol DiPaolo and her son Joey. When Joey was four, (1984) he was infected with the HIV virus from a blood transfusion during open-heart surgery. At age ten, Joey and his family attended Camp Sunburst in California which was the first and only AIDS related summer camp program in the country. Empowered and motivated by the camp experience both mother and son began public speaking in 1990 bringing AIDS education to parents, faculty, and students throughout the country. After becoming national AIDS spokespersons for several AIDS organizations, Carol and Joey decided to establish The Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation (JDAF). JDAF is a foundation motivated by compassion and hope for young people who are living in unforeseen circumstances. Together, Carol and Joey have provided over 500 AIDS prevention and education programs nationwide.

In 2000, Camp TLC was officially founded, as a vehicle to provide camping to youth living with AIDS/HIV. Being that the AIDS/HIV virus became a manageable disease versus one that took the lives of those infected, the need for programs that dealt solely with AIDS/HIV became extinct. And in 2008, Camp TLC went dormant. Recently, the Joey DiPaolo AIDS Foundation and Camp TLC teamed up with seasoned nonprofit professional Caroline Baumis and decided to bring her dream of bringing Camp to children living in unforeseen circumstances to life.