Amanda Small, the head bowling coach at Woodbridge who organized the first annual Marisa Tufaro Classic, at which presents were collected for pediatric patients, joined high school athletics director Joe Ward to deliver the donated toys and gift cards to New York Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital earlier this month.
The bowling tournament, which featured boys and girls teams from more than 30 Central Jersey high schools, also served as a fundraiser for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, whose namesake died last year at the age of 13 following complications from a heart transplant.
Marisa spent 161 of her final days including her last holiday season at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital.
Diagnosed with cancer in December 2016, Marisa was weaned from a ventilator days before Christmas. With high-dose steroids alleviating the swelling in her brain, Marisa miraculously regained her cognitive function and fine motor skills in time to celebrate the holiday with her parents, who could not have received a greater gift. Through the generosity of strangers, Marisa was able to unwrap many wonderful donated presents in Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital’s pediatric cardiac intensive care unit.
Parents of hospitalized children, some of whom are overwhelmed with medical bills and other related costs, may not be able to afford presents, or are so consumed with caring for their ill child that shopping, even online, is not a possibility or a priority.
At Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, one of the nation’s leading medical centers which serves countless New Jersey residents, including many from Middlesex County, Child Life specialists transform one of their largest playrooms into a toy shop, where parents of pediatric patients can select from a seemingly unlimited supply of donated gifts, all of which are free and neatly categorized by gender and/or age. The winter wonderland of a room also features a free wrapping station, where parents can have the toys gift wrapped before bringing them back to their children’s hospital rooms.
Child Life specialists, including two who cared for Marisa during her hospitalization, and a social worker, who assisted Marisa and her parents, were among the representatives from the facility who greeted Small and Ward to help unload more than 16 huge boxes of toys for the children. Fittingly, perhaps, snow fell while the delivery was made.
“Obviously, I wish no child had to be hospitalized for any reason, but I was fortunate enough to take the drive to New York to assist in delivering the toys to the hospital,” said Ward, who made the trek along with Small and The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s leadership on Dec. 13.
“As we arrived with snow coming down, to see the excitement of the (hospital’s staff) and think about all the smiles we were going to put on the children’s faces, it really helped put you in the holiday spirit because it really should be about giving, and not the gifts you receive.”
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation is a tax-exempt nonprofit which helps children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
Established less than 17 months ago, the foundation has already made a profound impact, donating more than $60,000 and spearheading multiple community initiatives, as well as awarding college scholarship dollars to exceptional high school students who advance the nonprofit’s mission.
Marisa’s father, Greg, a sportswriter for the Home News Tribune, and mother, Cyndi, the principal at James Monroe Elementary School in Edison, founded the nonprofit to give back to a community that has long provided their family with overwhelming support.
Marisa, who would have been a sophomore this year at Edison High School, was born with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome, a complex cardiac defect which required six open-heart surgeries. She developed two life-threatening conditions that necessitated a heart transplant. The transplant was supposed to extend her life, but tragically cut it short when a postoperative complication developed into a rare form of blood cancer to which Marisa succumbed. Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa, who was an honor roll student in elementary and middle school, lived a vibrant life that inspired.
The parent of an Edison bowler approached Small about simultaneously using the Marisa Tufaro Classic as a toy drive, an idea Small and the Woodbridge administration fully embraced.
“Coach Small is amazing,” Ward said. “She decided she wanted to do this tournament for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation. Myself and our principal, Glenn Lottmann, thought it was a wonderful idea and she ran with it. She just did an awesome job with everything and then when the idea came to us about adding the Toy Drive, that was just the icing on the cake. We couldn’t be prouder of her, the bowling community and how the event turned out.”
Greg and Cyndi Tufaro were deeply moved upon learning the tournament would also serve as a toy drive for the hospital in Marisa’s honor.