After donating half a million dollars since its inception to assist pediatric patients and children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation announced today it has officially ended its charitable mission.

“We are eternally grateful and appreciative beyond words to all who have donated, volunteered, or hosted a charity event for our nonprofit, which has immensely benefited from the extraordinary kindness of thousands of supporters,” said Cyndi and Greg Tufaro, Marisa’s parents and executive directors of the foundation. “Through the remarkable generosity of others, we have been blessed and privileged to make a profound impact on countless lives. We have also been able to keep alive Marisa’s indomitable spirit and allow her legacy to be one of helping children in need.”

Born with a complex cardiac defect, Marisa survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing on Jan. 30, 2017, to a rare form of cancer after a valiant battle. She was just 13 years old.

Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctors’ appointments, Marisa was an Edison Township Public Schools’ honor roll student involved in myriad extracurricular activities who lived a vibrant life that inspired.

The foundation was fittingly established in Marisa’s name and loving memory on July 30, 2017, six months after her untimely passing and on what would have been her 14th birthday.

In addition to donating $500,000, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which made community service an integral part of its mission, spearheaded dozens of initiatives resulting in the collection of thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter coats, baby supplies, children’s books, school supplies, and other items for in-kind giving upon which the nonprofit placed no monetary value.

The foundation also awarded $41,500 in scholarships to 57 exceptional high school seniors who advanced the nonprofit’s mission and sent 34 elementary and middle school students to a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.

The nonprofit benefited from dozens of fundraisers, ranging in size from tiny lemonade stands on suburban streets to Greater Middlesex Conference-wide all-star games and tournaments in which student-athletes from the entire league participated.

The Marisa Tufaro Foundation served as a source of comfort for hospitalized children and their families, as well as children in need, providing direct financial assistance and material donations.

Marisa received outstanding care from the staff and physicians at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University 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. Exempt from federal income tax as a public charity under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3), The Marisa Tufaro Foundation was blessed to give back to each of those medical centers.

“While no parent can ever fill the void left by the loss of a child, the extraordinary love and support the community poured into The Marisa Tufaro Foundation brought us immeasurable comfort and helped carry us through our grief,” Cyndi and Greg Tufaro said. “Knowing so many people embraced Marisa’s spirit by helping children in need gave us a renewed sense of purpose during the most difficult time of our lives. Along the way, we were also blessed to form lifelong friendships with remarkable people whose compassion, benevolence, and unwavering support became an enduring part of our journey. Those relationships, and the incredible difference we were able to make together, will forever remain among the foundation’s greatest gifts.”

The foundation was recognized for its charitable efforts with several prestigious honors, including the Edison Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Organization of the Year Award, the YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge and South Amboy’s 2023 Barnes Community Champion Award, and Hands of Hope for the Community’s 2024 Tee Off Against Hunger Honoree Award for “dedicated efforts in fostering positive change within the community.”

The nonprofit was featured in numerous publications, including USA TODAY, the Boston Globe, The Star Ledger, Home News Tribune, Courier News, Asbury Park Press, TapInto, and others.

In announcing a partnership between The Marisa Tufaro Foundation and the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers Today featured the nonprofit. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital showcased the foundation in an edition of its Healthy Together magazine, and Children’s Specialized Hospital profiled the nonprofit in one of its annual reports. News 12 New Jersey’s Della Crews featured The Marisa Tufaro Foundation in a weekly Spotlight New Jersey broadcast.

The foundation conducted several high-profile signature events including boardwalk-themed Family Fun Nights for pediatric patients and their families at a children’s hospital, a Day at TD Bank Ballpark (home of the Somerset Patriots) for dozens of Special Olympics athletes and their families which Teamwork Unlimited Foundation co-sponsored, and Holiday Knight Toy Drives at Old Bridge High School football games.

As a small nonprofit, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation distinguished itself from others, publishing complete stories on its website about fundraising events, the impact of the foundation’s giving on beneficiaries, and full profiles of scholarship recipients. The foundation posted more than 500 stories, all of which were shared on the nonprofit’s Twitter and Facebook pages, and many of which mainstream media outlets published.

While the foundation’s charitable work has come to a close, its impact will continue through the countless lives the nonprofit was fortunate to touch and the community that rallied together in amazing ways to create a force for meaningful service and positive change.

The Marisa Tufaro Foundation extends its heartfelt gratitude to every donor, volunteer, sponsor, community partner, school, healthcare institution, and family who made its work possible. Every act of kindness helped transform unimaginable loss into hope for others, ensuring Marisa’s life continues to inspire compassion for generations to come.

THE MARISA TUFARO FOUNDATION’S IMPACT

The following initiatives – each inspired by Marisa’s extraordinary life – reflect the many ways The Marisa Tufaro Foundation fulfilled its mission to assist pediatric patients and children in need.

Donated a Starlight Nintendo portable gaming station, four iPads with protective cases, more than 700 new children’s books, two multi-device courtesy charging stations, and established a Patient Assistance Fund at Hackensack Meridian Health JFK University Medical Center.

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.

Provided funding to expand the music therapy program and purchase musical equipment for pediatric patients at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick.

Made a generous donation to support pediatric patients and their families at the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center and The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital to launch a specially trained full-time dedicated facility therapy dog.

Provided tuition assistance for children enrolled in Middlesex College’s on-campus Early Learning Center, which provides year-round preschool activities for children of Middlesex College students, staff, and community residents.

Delivered more than 2,500 brand new children’s books over the course of two years to Middlesex County medical providers to give to income-challenged parents and their children as part of New Jersey’s Reach Out and Read program through our partnership with the Saint Joseph and Saint Thomas Aquinas high school football programs, the Saint Joseph High School bowling program, and Saint John Vianney School.

Provided the gift of YMCA of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge and South Amboy summer camp to children whose families are in financial need.

Made a generous donation to support Special Olympics programs and athletes in Middlesex County in honor of the Edison Township Police Department and Captain Jason Gerba.

Sponsored 60 Greater Middlesex Conference golfers to participate for four consecutive years in the Tee Off Against Hunger to benefit Hands of Hope for the Community, a nonprofit that combats food insecurity in Middlesex County.

Provided fully funded grants to make hundreds of free certified therapy dog visits to schools, public libraries, and other facilities that serve children across the greater Middlesex County area available through a partnership with Creature Comfort Pet Therapy.

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

In honor of Edison High School’s graduating Class of 2021, of which Marisa would have been a part, made 10 separate donations of $2,021 – totaling $20,210 – to organizations who share The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s mission of helping Middlesex County children in need.

Donated $8,000 through the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey Greater Middlesex Conference Baseball Coaches Association charity golf outing, of which our nonprofit was the beneficiary, to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital’s Child Life Program.

Partnered with the Give-Back Initiative to donate gift cards valued at $100 each to 44 Edison Township families in need, helping them purchase food, necessities and presents during the holiday season.

Provided Thanksgiving Day dinners to patients and their families at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick.

Provided families displaced by an apartment complex fire with gift cards to purchase clothes for their children.

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.

Made a generous donation to support pediatric patients and their families at the Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center and The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital to enhance art and music therapy programming, expand Child Life resources that help children cope with hospitalization and medical procedures, and bolster bereavement services for families navigating loss.

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.

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

Donated to Women Aware’s PALS Program, which offers counseling for children ages 3 through 12 and supportive services including individual and group creative arts therapy counseling sessions to families who have been victimized by domestic violence and abuse.

Partnered with The Peter Fund for three consecutive years to present Kindness Counts Awards to 13 Greater Middlesex Conference student-athletes, who received a total of $6,500 to donate in their name and honor to the charity of their choice serving Middlesex County children in need.

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 Middlesex County 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.

Partnered with Woodbridge High School through its “Pictures with Santa” event to make a $1,800 financial and gift card donation to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital in support of the hospital’s virtual toy drive.

Donated $3,000 to PSE&G 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.

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.

Partnered with the Give-Back Initiative to donate $8,000 to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick for the purchase of iPads and age and developmentally appropriate toys and games for pediatric patients.

Partnered with the Saint Joseph High School of Metuchen bowling team to assist food insecure families during the holiday season.

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.

Contributed funds to help a family secure a fully trained service dog for a 9-year-old girl with autism who also suffers from medical issues.

On the anniversary of Marisa’s passing and a year after her father underwent a stem cell transplant for Stage III multiple myeloma (a rare form of blood cancer), donated to The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital’s new Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant and Cellular Therapy Program.

To help alleviate the anxiety that can accompany an emergency department visit or hospital stay, donated a portable Starlgiht Nintendo gaming station with more than two dozen preloaded video games to The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital.

Paid tribute to the late Ron Mazzola, cancer survivor Jake Koppel and the caring Spotswood school-community with a donation to the Division of Hematology/Oncology at The Children’s Hospital at Saint Peter’s University Hospital.

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.

Sent 34 elementary and middle school students to a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.

Provided college scholarships totaling $41,500 to 57 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.

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 featured several players that have supported our nonprofit, our foundation matched the Scarlet Knights’ fundraising efforts for consecutive years 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.

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.

Donated $3,000 to RWJBarnabas Health’s children’s hospitals, paying forward the kindness of football players and coaches who support our nonprofit and in honor of their ability to navigate a pandemic-impacted season.

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.

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 (AED), 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 funding 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 for the Community 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.

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.

Made a $1,000 donation in the name of the East Brunswick wrestling program to Mayor Cohen’s Charity Fund and another donation of $1,000 in the name of the Perth Amboy wrestling program to the Raritan Bay Area YMCA to pay forward the kindness of both programs.

Partnered with Prevention Links’ Greenway Family Success Center in Avenel to sponsor a select number of families, fully covering their cost to attend Scarlett’s Mini Golf Gala. The event benefited a brave 4-year-old Woodbridge Township girl bravely battling Morquio A Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder.

In honor of the players and coaches who participated in the Soccer for a Cause Charity Festival, our nonprofit made a $1,000 donation to REPLENISH, a regional food bank serving Middlesex County residents including an estimated 30,000 children.

Commemorated National Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Day with a donation to the CHOP Cardiac Center at Saint Peter’s Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick and Team Laney Bug.

Through the Marisa Tufaro Classic, an annual bowling tournament featuring dozens of scholastic teams which Woodbridge High School sponsors, donated thousands of toys for pediatric patients and children in need that Hands of Hope for the Community and JFK University Medical Center serve.

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.