A Message from Our Founder
My Journey
My name is John D. Kemp Jr., and The Kemp Legacy Foundation was born from lived experience.
My medical journey began at just four years old, when I first experienced severe, unexplained illness. I have since been diagnosed with a rare vascular malformation and multiple autoimmune conditions—diagnoses that required long hospital stays, highly specialized care, and constant navigation of complex medical systems. Throughout my childhood, I was treated at many of the nation’s leading medical institutions, including Johns Hopkins Children’s Hospital (MD), Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Boston Children’s Hospital, UF Shands, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (FL), while conferencing with countless others. I also participated in every research study offered to me, believing that if my experience could help guide care or improve outcomes for even one other patient, it was worth it.
While illness is overwhelming on its own, I learned early on that the greatest obstacles families face are often not medical, but logistical: travel, lodging, meals, lost income, and the lack of clear guidance during critical moments.
Today, I am a pre-health biology student at Palm Beach Atlantic University, where I maintain a 3.9 GPA, consistently earn Provost’s List honors, and serve as a founding member of the Christian Medical & Dental Association. I volunteer in a local emergency room, gaining firsthand experience in patient care, and remain deeply involved in service and leadership within my community. My goal is to become an orthopedic surgeon so that I can continue to help others through medicine.
But the work I am most proud of is the creation of The Kemp Legacy Foundation, Inc.
I founded this nonprofit because I have lived the barriers families face when battling rare and chronic illness—travel, logistics, financial strain, and the overwhelming lack of guidance. The foundation exists to remove those barriers and to ensure that no one walks this journey alone.
Your support allows us to step in when others are at their most vulnerable and say, you are not alone. It provides access to care, relieves immediate burdens, and offers clarity during moments that often feel impossible to navigate.
Service is not optional for me—it is who I am.
I will continue this work for as long as I am alive.
Thank you for standing with the children, adults and families we serve and for being part of a mission rooted in compassion, dignity, and hope.
John D. Kemp Jr.
Founder, Chairman, & CEO
The Kemp Legacy Foundation, Inc.