OUR HISTORY

Experiencing polio in his youth, Founder Irving Packer, understood first hand that there was a lack of programs designed to help children and adolescents with special needs. As a young adult, when he and Co-Founder Estelle Packer worked with special-needs children in the public school system, they encountered problems in helping these children due to lack of adequate program development and funding to support such ideas.

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In 1963, with very little third party assistance, the Packers developed a small summer day camp program, in New Jersey, to provide for improving the lives of children having various disabilities. Over the years, this grew into innovative, year round, multifaceted programs serving those with special needs from preschool through high school and beyond.

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After achieving this success, in 1987, in an economy of stringent government funding cutbacks for quality special-needs programs, our Founders conceived the Innovating Worthy Projects Foundation to address the need for organization to provide financial help to quality special-needs children’s programs. The Foundation makes grants to organizations dedicated to serving developing innovative programs, disseminating ideas, or providing direct care or services for children with special needs, acute illnesses or chronic disabilities.