Thrive in Joy
“Perhaps ‘Rest in Peace’ is actually not the best term in relation to death, rather a phrase such as ‘Thrive in Joy’ best represents how I will want to spend eternity.” - Nick Fagnano
Nick Fagnano was only 19 years old when he penned these words as part of a college essay titled “The Reality of Heaven.” It was a concept expressed by a young man who was wise beyond his years and who at the time, had no way of knowing the positive impact his short life would have. Just over a year after writing the essay, Nick was tragically killed in a freak accident, when he was struck by lightning while enjoying an afternoon with friends at Venice Beach.
Following that summer day in 2014, Nick’s parents, Mary and Jay, founded the Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation. It is a nonprofit built on love and dedicated to the extraordinary qualities and strength of character that Nick possessed.
Mary and Jay were completely new to this world, but they’ve always felt their son guided them to their mission and continues to help steer their path. When Nick, an accomplished athlete, was just 13 years old, he organized a baseball equipment drive for kids in the Dominican Republic. Nick’s mom thought they’d one day go on a trip there together to further support the children who were living in unimaginable poverty.
As we all know, time has a way of slipping away from us, and unfortunately that trip never happened. But shortly after Nick’s death, Mary got a phone call from a service-based organization she’d connected to in the past. She knew at the time it was a sign from Nick, guiding them to the first of eleven trips the Fagnanos have made to the barrio of Herrera in Santa Domingo. When the phone rang, Mary says, “I was thinking about Nick. I was telling him I needed to hear from him. And I did.”
As the foundation grew, members of the community started thinking about how they could carry on Nick’s legacy by helping kids locally in Los Angeles. “We had a discussion around who Nick was and came up with specific character traits he possessed,” says Mary. Those 11 traits—humility, honesty, humor, perseverance, perspective, spirituality, teamwork, zest, love, kindness and gratitude formed the basis of a program called C11. For the significance of the number 11…read on.
“C stands for character. C is also the chemical symbol for carbon. When carbon goes through pressure it can become a diamond. We liked the analogy that character strengths are often built when we go through some of life’s toughest challenges,” Mary explains. The new program focuses on Nick as an example of how a young person with a strong character can use that to serve others and make a difference.
To date, C11 has partnered with Multiplying Good’s Students in Action program, USC Hybrid High School and local foster youth in providing workshops that, in Mary’s words, “open the door for young people to have honest conversations about how they see themselves as well as how they are seen by their peers.” The students can then begin to recognize their own character strengths and apply them to making a difference in their communities. It’s a powerful concept and one that is already paying off.
Jackeline Muñoz, Executive Director of the LA chapter of Multiplying Good, says “Our students learn what character means, how to identify their own character traits, how to leverage them to maximize their impact and address challenges, and how their character traits influence people around them, including those they serve. Our students have shared that Nick’s story inspires them to worker harder! We are truly honored to multiply good with Thrive in Joy.”
Looking ahead, the foundation’s Dominican Republic missions will continue to give people the opportunity to get out of their comfort zones and help others. “It carries on that very first act of kindness Nick did,” says Mary. With C11, Thrive in Joy will also keep working to help young people build character and discover new things about themselves.
The Thrive in Joy Foundation is proud to use the innate qualities Nick possessed to teach other kids to learn and feel their value. Mary and Jay are forever grateful to their son for guiding them in this direction. As Mary stresses, “So many kids don’t get the opportunity to know who they really are.”
The current goal for the Foundation is to reach 1,000 kids with C11 in 2021. A donation of $111 per student would allow them to achieve that. Why the rather odd number? It seems Nick had a knack for always looking at his phone at 11:11 and would make a wish whenever he saw that time. Eleven became his lucky number. And now, thanks to Nick, it will be lucky for future generations of children as well.
For more information on Thrive in Joy Nick Fagnano Foundation, go to https://www.thriveinjoy.org/.