Keep Smiling A.J.
Austin Jay Cohen died tragically on December 10, 2000 in a house fire at the University of Dayton. The A.J. Cohen Memorial Fund was established shortly thereafter at The Summit Country Day in Hyde Park. Following his love of sports, A.J.'s family, along with Summit Baseball coach Andy Poli, founded the A.J. Cohen Memorial Baseball Tournament in 2001. It's a high school baseball showcase, featuring some of the top teams in region such as St. Xavier, Elder, Moeller, LaSalle and more!! Andy Poli, now retired from coaching at Summit, stays very involved with the tournament while running "Baseball Operations" of the memorial. The idea was also welcomed by Cincinnati Country Day Head Coach Tim Dunn who worked closely with the Cohen Family after A.J.'s little brother Matthew played football and baseball under Coach Dunn. Cincinnati Country Day has participated in the tournament every year since its inception.

The first tournament took place on April 7, 2002 to raise money for the scholarship fund. Donations, raffle and concession proceeds, as well as gifts from family and friends have supplemented the A.J. Cohen Memorial Fund. That first tournament raised a total of $400. To date, the A.J. Cohen Memorial has raised over $100,000.

In 2006, the A.J. Cohen Memorial board members announced the introduction of their new "Fire-Safety Expo" at each tournament site. This hands-on expo would educate high school students and parents alike on the rising dangers of college campus fires.

In 2009, the A.J. Cohen Memorial took their cause one step further by joining forces with area fire departments in presenting their new fire prevention program designed specifically for high school seniors. It focuses on the need for responsibility and stories of fatal fires around the state in recent years. The presentation was the brainchild of Firefighters Randy Miller and Alan Guile of the Springfield Township Fire Department. These two men use creative vehicles to drive home the facts that campus-related house fires are killing our kids, similair to the way A.J. died at UD just 9 years ago. The first school presentation took place April 22nd, 2009 at The Summit Country Day and was an overwhelming success! We have since presented our program at Seven Hills where the response was again very positive. At the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year, we will resume our presentations at even more schools to include St. Xavier, Kings and Cincinnati Country Day to name a few. If your school is interested in having us come, please contact our Fire Program Coordinator Sara Lippert at saralippert@ajcohenmemorial.org

We weren't done yet! In 2010, board member Susan Foad created Treasures for A.J.. This event will occur on Saturday March 20th and is a rummage sale with some very nice items that can be purchased at discounted rates. Again, all money raised benefits A.J. Cohen Memorial Inc.