All proceeds from the first annual Greater Middlesex Conference Baseball Coaches Association Charity Golf Outing, sponsored by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.

The event will be held June 13 at Bunker Hill Golf Course in Princeton. Check in is 7:30 a.m.

Registration for the charity golf outing was conducted privately through the GMC Baseball Coaches Association.

The event includes golf with cart, breakfast, lunch, a commemorative polo shirt, refreshments and snacks on the course, golf favors and a donation from The Marisa Tufaro Foundation to a local children’s hospital in the name of each participant.

The golf outing will be conducted as a shotgun with a scramble format.

Bagel Boy on 2329 Highway 516 in Old Bridge is providing breakfast, Hott Carl’s Pizza of Matawan is providing lunch and Galya Athletics of Central Jersey is providing commemorative polo shirts.

Prizes will be awarded for closest-to-the-pin and longest drive contests, as well as for a closest-to-the-pin contest using a fungo bat and a hole-in-one contest.

ABOUT THE MARISA TUFARO FOUNDATION

Established on July 30, 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has already made a profound impact, donating nearly $200,000 to help pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.

The tax-exempt nonprofit, which makes community service an integral part of its mission, has also spearheaded multiple initiatives, resulting in the collection of thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter coats, baby supplies and other items for donation upon which the foundation has placed no monetary value.

The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has assisted multiple families whose children are in medical crisis, providing financial support through the payment of medical and/or personal expenses to help lessen the burden of parents who have lost wages while spending time at the hospital or caring for a child at home.

The foundation has awarded 26 college academic scholarships in Marisa’s name to high school seniors and an additional 13 scholarships for elementary and middle school students to attend a week-long summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.

The nonprofit has benefited from dozens of fundraisers, some of which have become annual events, ranging in size from tiny lemonade stands on suburban streets to GMC-wide all-star games and tournaments in which student-athletes from the entire league have participated.

ABOUT MARISA

Marisa, who would have been a senior this year at Edison High School, 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 was a well-rounded honor-roll student in elementary and middle school who lived a vibrant life that inspired.

After her sixth open-heart surgery, Marisa developed two life-threatening conditions that necessitated a heart transplant. The transplant, which was supposed to extend Marisa’s life, tragically cut it short when a postoperative complication developed into a rare form of cancer known as post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.

After radiation and chemotherapy treatments failed to thwart the relentless onslaught of the aggressive disease, which riddled her brain and body, Marisa succumbed to her illness following a valiant battle on January 30, 2017. She was just 13 years old.

Marisa received outstanding care from the staff and physicians at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick, Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and from some of the outpatient services Children’s Specialized Hospital provides.

Through the remarkable generosity of others, who have donated or participated in fundraising events, Marisa’s parents, Cyndi and Greg, have been blessed to give back to each of those hospitals by paying forward the extraordinary kindness of others.

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 less than four years ago (please click on any of the hotlinks below to read about each endeavor).  

  • 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 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 consecutive years 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 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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 during the holiday season.
  • Partnered with Middlesex High School to conduct a coat drive for Middlesex County children.