The Ena Zucchi Charitable Trust Fund

The Ena Zucchi Charitable Trust is a philanthropic fund established under the Last Will and Testament of Ena Zucchi to support public health, education, and social services initiatives across the state of New Jersey. The trust was created with a clear and focused vision to direct funding each year to three key cause areas that were deeply important to Ms. Zucchi. These causes include public health, education with an emphasis on environmental engagement for children, and social services aimed at empowering disadvantaged youth. The trust distributes its funds equally across three types of organizations each year: one public health organization, one educational organization, and one social services organization. Each grant is tied to a specific purpose. The public health allocation is intended to be further distributed by the recipient organization to support an individual pursuing a doctoral degree in the public health field at an accredited institution. The education-focused grant supports a program or project designed to foster children’s interest in and engagement with environmental issues, broadly defined to include physical, social, intellectual, and economic environments. The third grant supports a social services organization in efforts aimed at providing housing, education, or employment opportunities to disadvantaged youths who show an interest in careers within social services. Eligible applicants must be organizations that qualify as exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and must be located in the state of New Jersey. Applications must clearly articulate how the requested funds will be used to directly support one of the three specified purposes outlined in the trust. There are no pre-application stages such as letters of intent, and applicants can submit their proposals year-round, although the hard deadline for review is November 30. Applications must be submitted online and are confirmed via an automated email response. All complete submissions received by November 30 will be reviewed at the annual grant meeting held in January. Typically, three grants of approximately $5,000 each are awarded annually, totaling around $15,000 in disbursements. The funding amount and structure indicate that the trust is designed to make high-impact contributions in a targeted manner, rather than distribute funds widely across a large number of recipients. Grantees are generally required to submit a progress report within six months of receiving funds unless otherwise specified at the time of award. This ensures accountability and enables the trustee—Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.—to monitor how funds are utilized in alignment with the trust’s mission. While the trust is not expansive in scale, its highly focused approach and specific purpose areas make it an important source of support for New Jersey-based charitable organizations aligned with Ms. Zucchi’s philanthropic vision.