Co-Founders and Edgemont parents, Dina Puccio-D’Amico and Jen Young, establish the ZMA Foundation three weeks after Zack’s passing.

A GoFundMe was established after an outpouring of grief and love from the Edgemont community far surpassing our original goal of $10,000.

At Edgemont’s Annual E Day, Zack’s closest friends gathered to remember Zack by selling ZMA bracelets along with Zack’s favorite type of cookies: Black & White cookies. All funds raised go directly to the ZMA Foundation.

Funds raised are immediately put to use during this tragic and crucial time to support members of the Edgemont community directly affected by this tragedy.

Click here for an article in The Scarsdale Inquirer.
Zack is celebrated and memorialized at EHS Football Homecoming with an emotional speech by one of his older sisters, Alex. ZMA student members sell T-Shirts in honor of Zack and Suicide Prevention Month.

ZMA incorporates in the state of Delaware and appoints five members to the Board of Directors, including Zack’s parents, Heidi Harker and Wade Angus.

ZMA hosted its first Edgemont community parent workshop conducted by the Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Services (SFCS). This workshop was the first of many aiming to educate parents about mental illness warning signs, suicide prevention and available resources.

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ZMA plans to sponsor YMHFA training programs several times a year and hopes to include participants from neighboring communities. YMHFA is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations. Please click here if you are interested in learning more.

April 26/27 Event

ZMA hosted its first annual fundraising event at Leewood Golf Club. Please click here for event photos

ZMA sponsored a table at Edgemont's annual E Day, a community event and six decade tradition run by the E Club (Edgemont's athletic booster club) and Edgemont Varsity Athletes as a fun way for children, grades K through 6, and their parents to get to know the broader community. View Photos Here

The ZMA Foundation partnered with the E Club (Edgemont's athletic booster club) to sponsor a "Chalk the Walk/Paint Your Ride" Homecoming event at the school. It was a fun way to kickoff Homecoming weekend, raise awareness of ZMA, and get more than just the athletes to participate in this series of community events! Over 250 students, faculty and staff stopped by to decorate the walkways and boulders as senior athletes sprayed their cars to show school spirit and pride. Everyone enjoyed ice cream from Jimmy's Soft Serve and ZMA handed out special prizes for the most inspirational designs! View Photos Here

The P2P Program is an evidence-based collaboration between the Eisenberg Family Depression Center at the University of Michigan and middle and high schools across the nation. The program is a student led mental health awareness and suicide prevention campaign that is planned September through December and rolled out schoolwide January through April. The goal of the program is to reduce stigma, raise awareness, encourage help-seeking, and promote early detection of depression, anxiety and related illnesses. The program does this by educating middle and high school students about mental health conditions and concerns and supporting them in finding creative ways to convey this knowledge to their peers. The first year of this program will be lead by Michelle Greenwald (school psychologist) and Lauren Moore (school counselor). View Photos Here

In the Fall of 2023, ZMA plans to implement smaller parent support groups facilitated by a trained member of Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Services. These grade-specific groups will bring together a cross-section of parents to discuss the unprecedented challenges of raising teens / tweens in today's world. Groups will meet monthly and be hosted by a rotating group of Edgemont families. Topics will address real-time issues impacting Edgemont kids and families including schoolwork, social media, peer acceptance, alcohol and other drugs and adolescent development. Please click here if you are interested in learning more.

The ZMA Foundation will be offering NARCAN training periodically to all Edgemont community parents/caretakers. Participants will learn to recognize the signs of an opioid overdose and administer the overdose reversal drug Naloxone. The training program takes about an hour and will be conducted by Lilly Neuman, Director of Community Outreach and Prevention Education at St. Vincent's Hospital in Westchester. Topics will include: NY State Health Law; Good Samaritan Law; What are opiates?; How do they cause overdoses?; Signs/Symptoms; Risk Factors; Action Steps; and, Resources. Narcan Emergency Kits will be distributed at the end of the training class to each participant. View Photos Here

The ZMA Foundation is creating a Health & Wellness Action Team within the Edgemont community. The mental and behavioral health of our youth is at a crisis point in the larger world and right here in the Edgemont community. Now more than ever before, helping our children and teens navigate this ever-changing environment is critically important for their social-emotional wellbeing and building their resilience so they can lead healthy and productive lives. Our hope is to create and maintain a team of Edgemont parents who (i) have expertise in the mental health field and/or work with tweens/teens, and (ii) would meet periodically to discuss these risks and challenges and help to provide information, tools and resources to the Edgemont community.

If you are interested in helping, please click here and submit the questionnaire below. Thank you!

ZMA is now sponsoring YMHFA training programs to all Edgemont teachers, staff and coaches. YMHFA is designed to teach parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers, and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12-18) who is experiencing a mental health or addictions challenge or is in crisis. Youth Mental Health First Aid is primarily designed for adults who regularly interact with young people. The course introduces common mental health challenges for youth, reviews typical adolescent development, and teaches a 5-step action plan for how to help young people in both crisis and non-crisis situations.

ZMA will host its first annual mental wellness seminar at EHS to educate seniors about mental illness warning signs and available resources as they transition to college.

ZMA Foundations Annual Gala Event

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