As the child of a military family, Jasper grew up watching his parents serve others and volunteer in the community. Jasper began volunteering at the age of 11 and joined the Teen Court program of the Thirteenth Judicial Court of Hillsborough County when his family moved to Tampa. Jasper trained as a teen attorney in criminal cases involving juvenile offenders, and his experience led him to apply to the Tampa Mayor's Youth Corps. Jasper currently serves on the Tampa Mayor's Youth Corps Leadership Council, where he engages in year-round initiatives to help alleviate poverty, homelessness and hunger in the community.
In addition to Jasper's involvement with the Tampa Mayor's Youth Corps, Jasper also serves as a teen volunteer at the Tampa Bay History Center. While volunteering at the Tampa Bay History Center, Jasper identified that senior citizens in the community are often unable to enjoy the History Center due to physical limitations and lack of transportation. Jasper plans on launching a free museum outreach program, titled Memories for Life, which will bring authentic historical objects from the Tampa Bay History Center to seniors in assisted living facilities. Jasper's new initiative will include a team of teen volunteers and will provide seniors with intellectual, psychosocial and physical enrichment.
Jasper becomes the 392nd Lightning Community Hero since Jeff and Penny Vinik introduced the Lightning Community Hero program in 2011-12 with a $10 million, five-season commitment to the Tampa Bay community. Through this evening's game, in total, the Lightning Foundation has granted $19.75 million to more than 750 different nonprofits in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During the summer of 2016, the Vinik's announced that the community hero program will give away another $10 million over the next five seasons.
