Contributed by: Jeremy Bergantini
Jeremy Bergantini, a second-year University of Rhode Island student, said that he seeks to improve his skills in the arts while also pursuing his own ventures to help those in the military service.
Bergantini is a full time student here at URI, taking 18 credits this semester. He is also triple majoring in studio art, anthropology, and history while applying to the Accelerated Bachelor’s Degree/Master’s Degree (ABM) program.
One of the art classes Bergantini is currently taking here is ART213: Photography I: B/W Photography with Professor Zoey Stites.
“In the brief time that I have known him, I have become aware that he is a rather exceptional human being,” Stites said. “It seems as though each day brings a new revelation of an impressive skill or dramatic experience or important project that he is involved with.”
Before coming to URI, he joined the United States Army around 2007 and decided to go active duty because he was not sure what direction life would take him. While enlisted, he spent some time in Germany and Iraq.
“I was only in for about three years before I got hurt while I was in Iraq,” Bergantini said.
According to him, the physical injury was nothing major, but he had torn enough muscles in his body to be unable to shoulder his rifle, which led the military to honorably discharge him.
After the military, he worked as a government contractor in Djibouti. He, along with others, were building some of the buildings in Camp Lemonnier, which is a joint expeditionary base between the French and the United States.
“I tried doing some odd jobs for a while, but my injuries kind of prevented me from doing the things I really wanted to do so I started trying to brand myself as an artist,” he said.
As an artist, Bergantini worked with R1 Indoor Karting ft. TimeMission, Dart City & AxeBar in Lincoln, R.I. and was able to help build some of the 25 interactive gaming rooms. He was also able to help build Dart City alongside other artists.
Dart City is a new addition to R1 Indoor Karting, and is an interactive dart bar with a cyberpunk theme. Which is commonly regarded as a futuristic gothic fashion or a dystopian fiction setting.
However, Bergantini recently stopped working with the company due to his commitment to school and his nonprofit organization, the Tapped Foundation
Bergantini started the foundation after the death of some of his family members and friends and his father, who is still alive, suffering from a series of 11 strokes.
Bergantini’s mother is the full time caretaker of his father and she was also the caretaker of other family members including her own mother, father, and her stepmother.
The idea for the nonprofit stemmed from the kindness he saw in his mother, but his father also inspired him. After Bergantini’s aunt, the head of Exeter rescue, passed away from a brain aneurysm his father took it upon himself to create a foundation.
The Karen M. Swanson (KMS) Memorial Scholarship Fund, named after Bergantini’s aunt, was able to encourage local students that wanted to join the fire rescue services by providing them a scholarship in order to fund their training.
These acts of kindness and support stuck with Bergantini and the Tapped Foundation began. The focus of the foundation is to work with certain groups including homeless veterans and female and minority veterans on topics including suicide prevention and heart health.
“We are hoping to help prevent homelessness in veterans instead of just trying to get them off the streets after, and we’re hoping to raise more awareness about women and minorities in service,” he said.
He has colleagues assisting him in the project, including Rachael Garcia, who was the assistant director of Veteran Affairs and Military Programs here at URI.
Bergantini will also be working with the head of Providence Clemente Veterans’ Initiative (PCVI), Mark Santow. Both Garcia and Santow are able to utilize the connections they have to support the Tapped Foundation.
As of right now, he is focusing on doing well in school and dedicating enough time to the foundation in order to launch the first event in the Spring. In homage to his father, the event is a charity golfing tournament called Jack’s Strokes “fore!” Strokes.
Once Bergantini finalizes the website, he hopes to see a turnout not for himself, but for the individuals he wants to help.
“The nonprofit is just trying to do something genuinely selfless and looking at what you’ve done for somebody,” Bergantini said. “Wouldn’t that feel good? To just help somebody else accomplish something?”