Our nonprofit’s leadership was privileged to meet Rev. Anna Thomas, pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Metuchen, whose congregants recently made a generous donation to The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
Under Rev. Anna Thomas, who is also president of the Metuchen-Edison Area Interfaith Clergy Association, Centenary United Methodist Church continues the strong outreach for which it has been known for decades throughout the Metuchen-Edison area and beyond.
Centenary United Methodist Church honored our tax-exempt nonprofit, spotlighting The Marisa Tufaro Foundation in its church bulletin for the months of January and February, during which the congregation, whose work in the community aligns with our foundation’s own mission, collected money to assist us in helping Middlesex County children in need.
Marisa’s father, Greg, had an opportunity to thank Rev. Anna Thomas, Centenary United Methodist Church Mission Committee Chair Bob Carlson and congregant John Wooding.
Rev. Anna Thomas generously and graciously offered to make the church’s facilities and its congregants available to our nonprofit, should we require volunteers or assistance in our own charitable endeavors.
Centenary United Methodist Church’s history of assisting those in the community dates back to the 1960s.
Most recently, a contingent from the church volunteered at a Maker’s Place “Diaper Party” at Turning Point Methodist Church in Trenton, where more than 40 volunteers from several United Methodist churches collected more than 90,000 diapers – including 1,500 Centenary United Methodist Church donated – for distribution to families in need throughout Trenton.
Also last month, a contingent of volunteers from the church volunteered in The Rise Against Hunger’s meal packing event at New Dover United Methodist Church, where more than 26,000 meals were packaged.
Centenary United Methodist Church has been a supporter of the Ozanam Family Shelter in Edison and Amandla Crossing, a residence for single parents and their children, which Middlesex Interfaith Partners with the Homeless operates.
In 2002, Centenary began a relationship with a ministry to children in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, through the auspices of a United Methodist congregation in that city.
Through special collections at its Sunday morning worship services, Centenary extends its mission, giving to many other causes in the local area and around the world.
Programs in the late 1960’s included tutoring of disadvantaged in the “Potter’s Crossing” section of North Edison, inviting young men from the Kilmer Job Corps Center in Edison for Thanksgiving and Christmas Dinners with church families, and a sister church relationship with Humanities Baptist Church in Newark.
Our leadership would like to extend its sincere appreciation to Rev. Anna Thomas and her congregation for their support.
Following are hot links to stories detailing the many ways The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has assisted pediatric patients and other children in need since its inception on July 30, 2017.
- 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 provider won’t cover certain medical expenses.
- Partnered with Woodbridge High School and the Central Jersey bowling community to deliver hundreds of toys to pediatric patients at Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, where Marisa underwent a successful heart transplant.
- 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.
- Made a donation in honor of Piscataway’s Conackamack Middle School, which honored Marisa during its 27th annual Turkey Trot, to the township’s FISH Hospitality Program, which provides shelter, meals, clothing and other services to homeless families in Middlesex County.
- Paid forward the generosity Bishop Ahr High School has bestowed upon our foundation with a donation to the school-community’s 21st annual Ahr Star spaghetti dinner, whose beneficiaries included a 9-year-old boy from Middlesex County with multiple disabilities.
- 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.
- 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.
- Conducted a boardwalk-themed Family Fun Night at 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 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.
- Funded the purchase of brand new metal bunk beds and for campers at Kiddie Keep Well Camp, which serves more than 600 underserved Middlesex County children annually.
- 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.
- 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 (press release pending).
- Provided summer art camp scholarships to Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum for Middlesex County elementary and middle school students.
- Rewarded high school students for their community service to children with scholarships.
- Provided meals and goods for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Central Jersey.
- Provided scholarships to Greater Middlesex Conference student-athletes whose academic performance and extracurricular involvement reflects Marisa’s educational success and whose charitable endeavors align with our foundation’s mission.
- Partnered with Middlesex High School to conduct a coat drive for Middlesex County children.
- Provided gift cards for pediatric patients and their families.