Donors Spotlight: Riccio Pick Me Ups Foundation

Riccio Pick Me Ups Foundation

June 2024

Each April on Founders Day, alumni and friends come together online and in person to honor Kean’s history and provide financial support for the University. Some give out of gratitude for their Kean education, and others choose to honor a faculty member or special mentor, but all help fund Kean’s continued advancement. It is a day when Cougar pride is both celebrated and contagious.

In honor of Founders Day 2024, one contribution was a stellar example of how one person’s good work can begin a cycle of caring: a special gift received from the Riccio Pick Me Ups Foundation in memory of Kean alumnus Brett Christian Coleman ’18 to benefit the Kean University Wellness Center.

The Riccio Pick Me Ups Foundation was created by Amara Riccio ‘17, who after suffering a traumatic brain injury at age 13, spent nine days in a coma and needed to relearn how to walk, talk and eat. Amara and her family, in gratitude for the help they had received during this time, founded the Riccio Pick Me Ups Foundation with a mission to provide inspiration and joy to others suffering from life-changing medical issues. They started by giving “pick-me-ups,” such as homemade gifts and cards, to chronically ill hospital patients. Over time, their work expanded to include financial, recreational, emotional and educational support to individuals and families with complex health needs.

Amara Riccio, who earned her bachelor of arts degree at Kean, spoke at a disability awareness event at the University several years ago. That is where she met Brett Coleman, then a Kean student. A friendship was born. Coleman became involved with the Riccio Foundation’s work, while completing his Kean degree and managing his own chronic health challenges. He also built a career in finance, first as a project manager for Extell Development and later as Chief Financial Officer of Spec-X, before he passed away in February.

In memory of Coleman, the Riccio Pick Me Ups Foundation directed their Founder’s Day gift to support the Kean University Wellness Center.

“Brett continues to help others as he lived his daily life, while facing medical challenges. Brett’s legacy of kindness will live forever. His strength, determination, courage, compassion and genuine personality were the greatest pick-me-up,” said Lori Riccio, Riccio Foundation president and Amara’s mother.

Amara Riccio’s goal to bring a smile to others who are ill has been realized through her family foundation. Her positive message continues even as her own health has had several setbacks. Most recently, she has co-authored a book, This Is Why I Dance, an uplifting memoir.

The Kean University Foundation is grateful for the Riccio Foundation’s thoughtful gift, which will benefit wellness initiatives for our students. It honors a courageous alumnus and allows us to share Amara’s inspirational story of how one young girl’s altruism created a cycle of caring that continues to grow and inspire others.

Riccio Pick-Me-Ups is a 501(3)(c) nonprofit based in Howell, New Jersey with a mission to provide F.R.E.E. (Financial, Recreational, Emotional and Educational) support to individuals and families with complex health needs.

The Kean University Wellness Center provides holistic, integrated health and wellness services for the entire campus community. The Center’s interdisciplinary, student-centered and culturally inclusive approach is designed to educate and empower students, faculty and staff to make informed lifestyle choices. The Wellness Center includes the Kean Counseling Center, Student Health Services, Alcohol and Other Drug Services, the Office of Accessibility Services and Cougar Food Pantry.

Social Media Community Guidelines

The Kean University Foundation manages several social media channels. Through these channels, we aim to facilitate supportive conversations and share informative, engaging content. But please note—if you post to one of our social media channels, send us messages, reply to our tweets or comment on any of our posts, you are agreeing to follow and adhere to these Social Media Community Guidelines.

Additionally, please remember that the comments and responses you read on our channels from other community members come from them, not us. The content of other peoples’ comments, opinions and statements, even if they’re posted on our channels, do not necessarily reflect our views—they are the responsibility of the members of the public who choose to post them.

In order to help us keep our Kean University Foundation and Kean Alumni social media channels as supportive places to discuss shared topics of interest, please abide by the following Social Media Community Guidelines:

Be Respectful
1. Respect is a core part of being a Kean Cougar. Although we welcome your comments and feedback, you must take the responsibility to share both in a way that is respectful to Kean University, our team members and our overall community.
2. We will not tolerate comments, replies, messages or posts that are inappropriate, harassing in nature, or otherwise abusive.
3. We do not welcome comments, replies, messages or posts that are promoting or soliciting a third-party site. This includes third-party products and initiatives.
4. Social media is not the proper forum to send us feedback about our services. Please email kuf@keanfoundation.org for help with those topics.
5. We reserve the right to remove comments/replies/message that do not adhere to our policies, or any content that we believe does not comply.
6. We reserve the right to block or ban anyone who violates our policies.

Comment Moderation and Responses
1. We monitor our social media channels on weekdays, during normal business hours. We try to respond as soon as we are able.
2. Although we are moderating our social media channels to ensure that those commenting are complying with our guidelines, we are not responsible for anything posted by members of the public.

Your Posts May Become Our Future Content
1. When tagging us on social media platforms, please keep in mind that you are consenting to us potentially resharing your content in the future as User Generated Content. By posting on our channels and tagging us in your content, you agree that your posts may be freely used by us on our social media channels, and possibly on our website or in our newsletter.
  1. Knowing this, please do not post any information that you prefer to keep confidential.
  2. Do not share any information from which you expect to receive compensation.
2. When you post on or interact with any of our social media channels, remember that your name, likeness and social media handle will be visible to us and associated with your post/reply/message. If we reshare or use your post/reply/message elsewhere, we may display your name, likeness and social media handle when we do so.

May 2021

-->

Riccio Pick Me Ups Foundation

Your donation helps us continue our shared mission.

Social Media Community Guidelines