OCTOBER 2018—Richmond VA

It is hard to believe that just over a year ago, the world lost Dr. Bob Jesse—a man of unrivaled kindness, patience, intelligence, and vision. He was taken from this world too soon, and we’ve been hard at work over the past year to ensure that his legacy continues. We’re excited to finally unveil our efforts: The Jesse Family Foundation (JFF), a 501(c)(3) dedicated to further the scientific trailblazing and healthcare-focused initiatives that were the hallmarks of Bob’s visionary spirit.

While we have spent the past year grieving, we’ve also been thinking: thinking about how to continue Bob’s legacy in a way that embodies his spirit and impacts the world in small and large ways. Today, we’re sharing an update of where we are in this process, and we hope it will comfort you and inspire you as well. It’s a bit lengthy, so bear with us for this first update!

First, to everyone who helped make this possible, we’d like to extend a gigantic, heartfelt THANK YOU from our entire family. We are tremendously grateful for your support, financially and in numerous other gestures of kindness, guidance, and friendship. All of the calls, emails, and texts comforted us when we needed it most and inspired us to keep going with this effort.

We’re also excited to announce our first micro-grant award! Why micro-grants? With these smaller funding opportunities, we hope to target programs, research, and individuals that show promise but might otherwise be overlooked when competing against larger, more established programs. We think this is just the kind of granting effort that would have jazzed Dr. Bob. Our first micro-grant will be awarded to fund a proposal submitted by Dr. James Bjork with the McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Virginia.

We are thrilled about this first step, and hope that you are as well. After all, none of this would have been possible without the community of family, friends, and colleagues who cared about Bob Jesse and who shared his values and commitment to making the world a better place.

We will plan to share more information about our micro-granting strategy and goals of the JFF in the coming weeks and months and we hope that you will stay on this journey with us, and we hope you will help us spread the word too. Please share our Foundation with your colleagues and friends, especially those that knew Bob. Finally, if you’re able, we would be grateful for your consideration of The Jesse Family Foundation as a part of your end-of-year giving. We promise to be good stewards of your investment in making a difference in a way that makes us all, especially Dr. Bob, proud.

Launching the Jesse Family Foundation

JFF Awards First Grant to Fund Research on Opioid-Addiction Among Veterans