The Give-Back Initiative, which generously conducted a week-long virtual fundraising campaign for our nonprofit, partnered with The Marisa Tufaro Foundation to raise more than $8,000 for pediatric patients and Edison Township families in need this holiday season.

Through the remarkable generosity of its leadership, which made personal contributions, and the benevolence of its members, the Give-Back Initiative generated more than $4,000 in monetary donations and gift cards for our nonprofit.

The Marisa Tufaro Foundation provided a matching gift for those collective fundraising efforts.

As a result, our nonprofit is distributing ShopRite and Walmart gift cards valued at $100 each to a total of 41 Edison Township families in need, enabling them to purchase food, necessities and presents for children this holiday season.

In addition, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation is presenting a check in the amount of $4,000 to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. The money will be used to purchase iPads, as well as age and developmentally appropriate toys and games for pediatric patients. They will be available for distribution, not only during the holiday season, but throughout next year, to meet the needs of patients, all of who can benefit at any time from a diversion to help cope with the stress and pain that can accompany treatments, medical procedures and extended admissions.

All last week, the Give-Back Initiative conducted an online fundraiser, analogous to a tricky tray, for our nonproift.

During the week, all sweepstakes posted on the Facebook page of the group, which has grown exponentially to more than 4,000 members since its inception just four months ago, benefitted our foundation.

Support from The Give-Back Initiative – founded and operated by three Edison Township women, all heavily involved in their respective school-communities as dedicated mothers of school-age children – could not have come at a more opportune time.

In previous years, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, benefitting from the kindness of community partners, has been able to conduct in-person holiday toy drives, which have generated thousands of presents for pediatric patients.

In addition, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has also participated in an annual holiday gathering for Edison Township children, at which our nonprofit, through the generous support of others, was blessed last year to provide parents of those children with more than $2,500 in ShopRite, Target and Walmart gift cards for the purchase of food, necessities and presents.

The coronavirus pandemic cancelled this year’s holiday gathering, as well as any of The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s community-partnered annual in-person toy drives.

Jackie Maurath, who operates The Give-Back Initiative with Dana LaPenta and Julia Calantoni, graciously contacted The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, expressing a desire to assist our nonprofit this holiday season.

The Give-Back Initiative has assisted other local charities and recently spearheaded a Thanksgiving food drive that generated meals and gift cards for more than 100 people including 17 families in Edison and two families in neighboring Woodbridge.

Members of The Give-Back Initiative’s Facebook group were responsible for the Thanksgiving donations.

“Collectively,” LaPenta said, “this group of members made a huge impact for families that would have had no holiday.”

Maurath said it is “because of our members, because of that local support,” that The Give-Back Initiative has been able to flourish.

The Give-Back Initiative is registered with the New Jersey Attorney General’s Charities Bureau as a professional fundraising LLC as defined in the New Jersey State Executive Law.

“At The Give-Back Initiative,” the organization’s Facebook bio reads, “we truly believe that doing good is contagious. We believe in the power of community and that great things can be achieved when we rally together.”

When the coronavirus pandemic struck, The Give-Back Initiative provided a forum for organizations and charities who may have been struggling to fundraise due to the cancellation of in-person events.

“We use social media and the internet as our platform to spread awareness about causes and fundraise for them,” Calantoni said. “The nice thing about the online world and social media is (The Give-Back Initiative) can put these organizations in touch with people they may not have been able to reach before.”

LaPenta said The Give-Back Initiative “offers the whole (fundraising) experience from start to finish,” with the only onus on the beneficiary being the need to share a link.

LaPenta describes the three women who operate The Give-Back Initiative, while raising a total of 10 children, all of who are extensively involved in extra-curricular activities, including scholastic and recreation athletics, as “three average moms.”

“We joke that fundraising is in our blood,” LaPenta said. “Between all their sports and all their activities, we’ve been seasoned fundraisers for quite a while.”

The group has blossomed since its initial manifestation as a virtual fundraising arm for the Edison High School football program.

Maurath and LaPenta both have boys who play on the Edison High School football team, while one of Calantoni’s sons, who is currently an eighth grader, will be a part of the program next year.

“They are three of the most generous and hard-working women I’ve ever met,” said Edison High School football coach Matt Fulham, noting Maurath and LaPenta are heavily involved in the gridiron program’s booster club.

“They just do incredible work, not only for our football program, but for the entire Edison Township community.”

Maurath’s son, Danny, a senior at Edison High School, where he is a team captain and star football player, would have been a classmate this year of Marisa Tufaro.

Cyndi Tufaro, a longtime Edison Township Public Schools educator, and her husband, Greg, a sportswriter for the Home News Tribune, established The Marisa Tufaro Foundation in loving memory of their beautiful daughter, who died three years ago at the age of 13.

Marisa was born with a complex cardiac defect that required six open-heart surgeries. Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa lived a vibrant life that inspired. After her sixth surgery, Marisa developed two life-threatening conditions that necessitated a heart transplant. A postoperative complication developed into a rare form of cancer, known as post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder, that riddled her brain and body. Marisa succumbed to her illness following a valiant battle on Jan. 30, 2017.

Since its inception just over three years ago, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated more than $175,000 to assist pediatric patients and underserved children.

The nonprofit also has donated thousands of nonperishable food items, baby supplies, winter coats and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value.

“We can never find the right words to express our gratitude to The Give-Back Initiative for its willingness to partner with our nonprofit during this holiday season,” Cyndi Tufaro said.

“We continue to be blessed with incredible support from the entire Edison Township community.”

Following are some of the ways The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has helped pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area since its inception just over three years ago (please click on any of the hotlinks below to read about each endeavor).

Donated a total of $3,000 to Children’s Specialized Hospital and the Lakeview School in honor of the football players and cheerleaders who would have participated in the 27th annual Middlesex-Union County All-Star Game, a charity event which the coronavirus pandemic canceled.

As a way of giving back to the Greater Middlesex Conference, which has been among our nonprofit’s biggest supporters, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation jump-started the league’s fundraising effort to feed county families during the coronavirus pandemic with a $2,500 donation to the Middlesex County Food Organization and Outreach Distribution Services.

Provided funding for a part-time healthcare social worker to assist families of pediatric patients under the care of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Department of Pediatrics’ Division of Pediatric Cardiology.

Partnered with the Colonia High School football team to tackle a Super Bowl-themed community service project that benefited pediatric patients and their families at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick.

Donated more than $2,500 worth of ShopRite, Target and Walmart gift cards to dozens of Middlesex County families in need, helping parents purchase food, necessities and presents for their children this holiday season.

Partnered with Woodbridge High School, the Central Jersey bowling community and the Port Reading Fire Department and EMS to deliver more than 1,000 toys to patients at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital during the holiday season.

Sponsored more than 80 South Brunswick High School student-athletes, who donated their time and youthful energy to participate in a charity kickball tournament benefiting an inspirational boy living with an incurable and terminal disease.

Established a fund at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, from which Marisa received outstanding care for her entire life, to provide financial support to families of pediatric patients from Middlesex County in medical crisis by helping to pay medical, personal or incidental expenses.

Donated to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital’s newly established extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program, a specialized cardiac and respiratory support system that saved Marisa’s life at another medical facility following her heart transplant.

Conducted a boardwalk-themed Family Fun Night for a second consecutive year at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital, where the sights, sounds and smells of the Jersey Shore were brought to patients and their families through carnival games, food, prizes, music and more.

Partnered with Teamwork Unlimited Foundation to treat Special Olympics athletes from the Raritan Bay Area YMCA to a Somerset Patriots game experience.

Partnered with the Saint Joseph High School football program and campus ministry to pack and donate more than 200 “Weekend Snack Bags” for pediatric patients’ families at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick.

Funded the purchase of uniforms (shirts and shorts) for campers at Kiddie Keep Well Camp, which serves more than 600 underserved Middlesex County children annually.

Partially funded the Make-A-Wish of a Middlesex County girl who was born with a complex cardiac defect to vacation with her family at Walt Disney World.

Provided summer art camp scholarships to Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum for 13 Middlesex County elementary and middle school students.

Provided college scholarship dollars to 25 high school students whose classroom performance and extracurricular involvement reflected Marisa’s educational success and whose charitable endeavors aligned with our foundation’s mission.

Sponsored a Middlesex County elementary school’s field trip to Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Center in Monroe, where students from self-contained autistic classes were afforded the opportunity to interact with horses and baby goats.

As a way of giving back to the Rutgers University baseball program, whose roster features several players that have supported our nonprofit, our foundation matched the Scarlet Knights’ fundraising efforts with a donation to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital’s child life program.

Assisted multiple families whose children are in medical crisis, providing financial support through the payment of medical and/or personal expenses. Respecting their privacy, the foundation never divulges the names of those individuals or the dollar amount of assistance it provides.

Paid forward the generosity Saint Thomas Aquinas High School has bestowed upon our foundation with a donation to the school community’s annual Ahr Star spaghetti dinner, whose beneficiaries included a 9-year-old boy from Middlesex County with multiple disabilities.

Partnered with the Edison and J.P. Stevens high school girls basketball teams to collect baby care items to donate to the Edison-based Ozanam Family Shelter.

Partnered with the Middlesex County Association of School Administrators to offer financial relief to parents of children in medical crisis who lost wages while caring for their child at the hospital, who lack health insurance or whose insurance provider won’t cover certain medical expenses.

Funded the purchase of brand-new metal bunk beds for campers at Kiddie Keep Well Camp, which serves more than 600 underserved Middlesex County children annually.

Partnered with Old Bridge and South Brunswick high schools to collect thousands of toys for pediatric patients at Saint Peter’s University Children’s Hospital and Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital.

Partnered with the Kittim N. Sherrod Foundation to provide a youth football and cheerleading organization with a bilingual state-of-the art automated external defibrillator, as well as AED and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training for adult members of the organization.

Supported instruction and supplies for an art therapy program at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital, to which our foundation also provided funds for infant mobiles and toy cars staff use to transport children to the operating room for surgery.

Provided money for equipment and supplies for students with disabilities who utilize the Lakeview School’s newly constructed aquatics center.

Partnered with Teamwork Unlimited Foundation to provide medical alert bracelets to children with autism and pediatric patients with chronic illness who receive outstanding care from Children’s Specialized Hospital, which annually serves more than 34,000 children statewide.

Partially funded the Make-A-Wish of a Middlesex County boy who is winning a battle with high-risk neuroblastoma to vacation with his family at Walt Disney World.

Provided physical therapy at Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Center and Project Walk for Middlesex County children whose families do not have health insurance or whose families’ health insurer does not cover the cost of the physical therapy.

Partnered with Edison High School and the Chamberlain College of Nursing for two consecutive years to raise money and collect nonperishable food items to benefit Middlesex County children and their families through Hands of Hope via our foundation’s participation in the Race to Outrun Hunger.

Provided new iPads and gaming system accessories (Xbox and PS4 games, controllers, chargers) for adolescent patients at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital.

Partnered with Woodbridge High School and the Central Jersey bowling community to deliver hundreds of toys to patients at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, where Marisa underwent a successful heart transplant.

Made a donation in recognition of Piscataway’s Conackamack Middle School, which honored Marisa during its annual Turkey Trot, to the township’s FISH Hospitality Program, which provides shelter, meals, clothing and other services to homeless families in Middlesex County.

Provided James Monroe Elementary School students with food items to fill a hundred “Weekend Snack Bags” for pediatric patients’ families.

Provided meals and goods for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Central Jersey.

Partnered with Middlesex High School to conduct a coat drive for Middlesex County children.

Provided gift cards for pediatric patients and their families.