From the very beginning of 116 MacDougal, Vince Restauri announced that a substantial portion of its profits would be contributed to the Justin V. M. Restauri Dream Foundation, for need-based scholarships to pursue dreams—for students at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study and NYU’s ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) in the Tisch School of the Arts, as well as at Sewickley Academy and Pittsburgh-area universities' theater and cinema departments. It was a father's promise to his critically ill son.
 
Justin grew up in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, graduated from Sewickley Academy (2003) and from The Gallatin School at NYU (2007), where as a freshman he lived around the corner from 116 MacDougal Street. Justin was only two months away from receiving his NYU- ITP Master’s degree when he passed away in 2014 from leukemia and lung transplant complications.