OUR STORY

“We’ve started this foundation after the loss of my two sons in 2014, Alan Jay Leisentritt (AJ) and Jayson Paul Leisentritt (Tritt). My boys passed away four months and six days apart. We are thankful that we could put the boys to rest. We have since found there are many families that cannot.

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In January of 2015 I saw a commercial for the Saginaw Spirit Hockey, Mental Health Awareness Night in memory of player Terry Jaford who took his own life. Instantly I wanted to learn more because my son AJ took his own life as well. I paid close attention and got the name Craig Goslin, President and Managing Partner of the Spirit Organization. I wanted to do something to help even though I couldn’t attend the event. Surprisingly, he answered his phone even though my number was private, and we went from strangers to friends in minutes. Craig wanted to help us heal. After a few lunches and meetings he introduced Shelly and me to Barb Smith from the Survivors of Suicide program.

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I knew at this time I wanted to start my own foundation. We begin an event planning team for Mental Health Awareness nights at the Tri-City Motor Speedway where Shelly, Jayson, and I worked at the time. From then on we have been involved in fundraisers for the Saginaw Spirit Mental Health Awareness night and in July of 2016, the TRITT Foundation Inc. was born.

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In January of 2017 we were honored and recognized at the annual Mental Health Awareness hockey game.

Our first official fundraiser as the TRITT Foundation was an outstanding success.”

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– Jay Leisentritt