Each year since Marisa has passed, Ralph Fech and Lori Gerstl, who serve as tournament directors for the Central Jersey Winter Classic, have made a generous donation from the event to our nonprofit.
The annual bowling tournament, which features nearly 70 boys and girls teams, was contested earlier this year at Bowlero in North Brunswick.
East Brunswick (3176) won the boys team title and Toms River North (3046) won the girls team title.
For the boys, Cameron LaPlant of J.P. Stevens had the high series (775) and James Stoveken of Woodbridge had the high game (280).
Amanda Shelters of Brick Memorial recorded both the high series (699) and the high game (259) for the girls.
The Central Jersey Winter Classic, which includes teams from as far north as Sussex County and from as far south as Camden County, has been contested for 38 consecutive years.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation is forever indebted to Lori, Ralph and the entire Central Jersey bowling community for their continued support of our nonprofit.
Ralph, who is a member of the NJSIAA Hall of Fame, coached bowling at South Plainfield High School for 37 years, winning 28 team championships and multiple team sportsmanship awards. A 17-time Coach of the Year, Ralph started South Plainfield’s bowling program in 1970.
As tournament directors, Lori and Ralph also award an annual Central Jersey Winter Classic scholarship to a deserving student-athlete.
Following are hot links to stories detailing several of the many ways our 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.