The Jax Memorial Autism Scholarship Fund is made up of Jax’s former behavior therapists, Jackie LaMaida and Mileena Cook, Jax’s grandmothers Karen Ponomarenko and Janice Cherni and Jax’s mom Samantha Cherni. These ladies came together in the face of tragedy to find a way to shine a light and keep sweet Jax’s memory alive in the best way possible. Every year they host fundraisers to raise money for the fund and grant scholarships to families to use for resources, schooling or equipment for their child with autism. The hope is that the money donated can help make a difference in one child’s life.
About Jax
Jax was an amazing and determined 5 year old who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 3. Jax grew up in Parma, Ohio and attended STEPS Academy for school. We realized Jax could read and the sky was the limit for him after that! Jax had many words but could not always formulate exactly what he wanted so through the use of his speech generating device he began to say many more words and it really helped ease his frustration. Jax loved anything sensory, especially the water! He enjoyed his summer days full of swimming and splash pads and also loved going to the park and swinging and sliding. Jax was also a big fan of music, it literally sparked his smile as soon as he would hear a tune come on and you would often hear him singing certain lyrics. Jax was always happy, his smile rarely faded from his face. His memory will live on forever through his scholarship fund and we know it would bring him so much joy to know how many kids he is helping along the way!
How the Fund Started
Jax lost his life in March of 2021. In the face of our tragedy, and looking for a way to shine
a light to keep his sweet memory alive, we (Jax’s former behavior therapist: Jackie
LaMaida and Mileena Cook, grandmothers, Karen Ponomarenko and Janice Cherni, his
mother, Samantha Cherni, and lastly, his aunt, Angela Ponomarenko) united together to
create this fund. Through Jax, we are hoping to make a difference and change at least
one child’s life, as Jax would want us to do.
Scholarship funding will be collected yearly via fundraisers and donations.