The James and Gina Giordano Foundation concentrates its philanthropy on rare-disease medical support and local hardship relief. The vast majority of its funding goes to Cooley's Anemia (beta-thalassemia) research and patient services, with a single smaller grant directed to family emergency/necessity assistance. Its giving is mission-focused and heavily weighted toward one health organization, with occasional local charitable support.
Highly concentrated: few grants overall, dominated by two large grants to a single health nonprofit (repeat funding), plus an isolated small grant for local family assistance.
Two grants to Cooleys Anemia Foundation, totaling $250,000 in 2025, show the James and Gina Giordano Foundation Inc’s core commitment: disease research and patient services for people affected by Cooley’s anemia (beta-thalassemia). That relationship sits at the center of the foundation’s giving, while smaller awards support families facing hardship, scholarship aid, and medical necessity needs. The pattern is practical and personal rather than broad-based, with gifts aimed at helping people cover treatment-related costs or immediate household needs. The recent grant list also shows that the foundation gives to individuals as well as organizations. In 2025, it awarded $25,000 to Carmelle Content for hard times family necessity, and made several $5,000 grants for medical necessity and hardship support. Its grants are not limited to one kind of recipient: a scholarship fund in Lynbrook, New York, and a South Carolina-based foundation both appear among the recent awards. Overall, the foundation’s giving is centered on direct support linked to blood disorders and short-term family needs.
A major part of the foundation’s grantmaking is disease-focused support. It gave $150,000 to Cooleys Anemia Foundation for disease research and patient services, reinforcing its emphasis on Cooley’s anemia and related patient needs. It also funds direct financial help for people facing hardship. Recent awards include $25,000 to Carmelle Content for hard times family necessity and $5,000 grants to Maureen Hayes, Frank Ruta, and Gina Cavallo for the same purpose. Medical necessity is another recurring theme. The foundation awarded $5,000 each to Susan Winner, Charles Schembri, and Paul Raphael for medical necessity, showing support for treatment-related expenses alongside its disease-specific philanthropy. Scholarship support appears as well, through a $5,000 grant to Dr Santo Barbarino Scholarship Fund for scholarship donation.
The typical grant size is $5,000 at the 25th percentile, $5,000 at the median, and $13,000 at the 75th percentile, which points to a pattern of relatively small awards with a few larger grants. The distribution is uneven because a small number of gifts account for much of the year’s funding. The recent list shows both organizational grants and direct assistance to individuals, so the foundation uses a mix of institutional and person-level support. It also appears to fund recurring priority areas rather than one-off themes, since disease support, hardship assistance, and medical necessity each show up across multiple grants.
$158K
$926K
$431K
$180K
Most grants fall between $5K and $13K, with a median of $5K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$5K
75th Percentile
$13K
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Notable grantees: Cooleys Anemia Foundation, Carmelle Content
The foundation’s grants are concentrated in the United States. New York recipients appear frequently, including New York, NY; Lawrence, NY; Floral Park, NY; Lynbrook, NY; Newark, CA; and Hewlett, NY on the recent list. South Carolina is the top state by grant count, and Bluffton, SC appears among the named recipients. The recipient map shows 100% of recent grants went to U.S. organizations or individuals, with no non-U.S. countries represented.
Its recent giving centers on Cooley’s anemia (beta-thalassemia) research and patient services, plus direct help for families facing hardship, medical necessity expenses, and scholarship support. The largest recent awards went to Cooleys Anemia Foundation, while smaller grants supported individual hardship and medical-need recipients.
It gives to both. The recent grant list includes organizational grants such as Cooleys Anemia Foundation and Robert Doud Foundation, along with individual recipients including Carmelle Content, Maureen Hayes, Susan Winner, Frank Ruta, Gina Cavallo, Charles Schembri, and Paul Raphael.
The foundation’s typical grant size is $5,000 at the 25th percentile, $5,000 at the median, and $13,000 at the 75th percentile. That indicates most awards are small, with a smaller number of larger grants driving total dollars.
Recent grants are concentrated in the United States, and New York recipients appear often in the grant list. The top state by grant count is South Carolina, with Bluffton, SC among the named recipients.
The recent record shows recurring support for the same broad areas: disease research and patient services, hardship relief, and medical necessity. Cooleys Anemia Foundation appears more than once in the 2025 list, alongside repeated hardship and medical-need awards to different recipients.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Current and upcoming funding from James and Gina Giordano Foundation that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Organizations in the arts and human services may apply.
Deadline: Applications for the 2023 grants were accepted July 1 – September 15, 2022; current cycle dates were not provided in the scraped content.
Who can apply: Welcomes proposals from tax-exempt organizations. No letter of inquiry or invitation is required. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, with proposals traditionally reviewed in spring for public policy and higher education, and in fall for human services, K-12 education, and the arts.
Deadline: Traditionally February for public policy and higher education; traditionally August for human services and arts. Future deadline dates may be amended.
Who can apply: Organizations advancing free-market principles and work that impacts North Carolina public policy are prioritized; there are no geographic limitations.
Deadline: Public policy proposals are traditionally submitted in February; specific listed future date on the page was February 3, 2025, which is past.
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Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COOLEYS ANEMIA FOUNDATION | NEW YORK, NY | $150,000 | 2025 | DISEASE RESEARCH AND PATIENT SERVICES |
| COOLEYS ANEMIA FOUNDATION | NEW YORK, NY | $100,000 | 2025 | DISEASE RESEARCH AND PATIENT SERVICES |
| CARMELLE CONTENT | LAWRENCE, NY | $25,000 | 2025 | HARD TIMES FAMILY NECESITY |
| ROBERT DOUD FOUNDATION | BLUFTON, SC | $13,000 | 2025 | DISEASE RESEARCH AND PATIENT SERVICES AND OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES |
| ROBERT DOUD FOUNDATION | BLUFTON, SC | $13,000 | 2025 | DISEASE RESEARCH AND PATIENT SERVICES AND OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES |
| MAUREEN HAYES | FLORAL PARK, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | HARD TIMES FAMILY NECESITY |
| DR SANTO BARBARINO SCHOLARSHIP FUND | LYNBROOK, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | SCHOLARSHIP DONATION |
| SUSAN WINNER | NEWARK, CA | $5,000 | 2025 | MEDICAL NECESSITY |
| FRANK RUTA | LYNBROOK, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | HARD TIMES FAMILY NECESITY |
| GINA CAVALLO | LYNBROOK, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | HARD TIMES FAMILY NECESITY |
| CHARLES SCHEMBRI | NEW YORK, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | MEDICAL NECESSITY |
| PAUL RAPHAEL | HEWLETT, NY | $5,000 | 2025 | MEDICAL NECESSITY |
COOLEYS ANEMIA FOUNDATION
$150,000DISEASE RESEARCH AND PATIENT SERVICES
COOLEYS ANEMIA FOUNDATION
$100,000DISEASE RESEARCH AND PATIENT SERVICES
CARMELLE CONTENT
$25,000HARD TIMES FAMILY NECESITY
ROBERT DOUD FOUNDATION
$13,000DISEASE RESEARCH AND PATIENT SERVICES AND OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES
ROBERT DOUD FOUNDATION
$13,000DISEASE RESEARCH AND PATIENT SERVICES AND OTHER CHARITABLE PURPOSES
MAUREEN HAYES
$5,000HARD TIMES FAMILY NECESITY
DR SANTO BARBARINO SCHOLARSHIP FUND
$5,000SCHOLARSHIP DONATION
SUSAN WINNER
$5,000MEDICAL NECESSITY
FRANK RUTA
$5,000HARD TIMES FAMILY NECESITY
GINA CAVALLO
$5,000HARD TIMES FAMILY NECESITY
CHARLES SCHEMBRI
$5,000MEDICAL NECESSITY
PAUL RAPHAEL
$5,000MEDICAL NECESSITY