St. Joseph High School honored the memory of Marisa Tufaro and conducted a fundraiser for the nonprofit foundation bearing her name during the football team’s home game against North Brunswick on Saturday.
In addition to donating the gate from the contest, St. Joseph will also donate all proceeds from the sale of specially designed commemorative T-shirts, which will be available for purchase at home games throughout the season.
This marks the second consecutive year that St. Joseph has donated the gate from a home game and sold T-shirts to benefit our nonprofit.
Marisa Tufaro, who died two years ago at the age of 13, is the daughter of Home News Tribune sports writer Greg Tufaro, a 1985 graduate of St. Joseph, and Cyndi Tufaro, an Edison Township Public Schools educator.
In just over two years, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, through the remarkable generosity of others, has made a profound impact, donating more than $100,000 to fulfill its mission of helping pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which makes community service an integral part of its mission, has also spearheaded multiple community initiatives, resulting in the collection of thousands of toys, nonperishable food, winter coats, baby supplies and other items for donation upon which the nonprofit has placed no monetary value.
The entire St. Joseph football program recently partnered with our nonprofit on a community service project that will benefit the families of pediatric patients at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick.
St. Joseph paid tribute to Marisa and the foundation bearing her name during a heartfelt pregame ceremony, which included a moving prayer from Br. Louis Couvillion, S.C. and eloquent remarks from public address announcer Jeff Snyder.
The football team’s captains presented Cyndi with a beautiful flower bouquet and gave the Tufaro family a gift bag.
Principal Anne Rivera and the entire team prayed for Marisa during St. Joseph’s traditional pregame prayer.
St. Joseph went on to win the game, 22-20, upsetting North Brunswick, which entered the contest ranked No. 9 in the state, according to USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey’s statewide Top 20 poll.
Senator Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., who serves on The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s Board of Trustees, addressed the crowd at the Brenner Family Field during the pregame ceremony, thanking the entire St. Joseph school community for its support of the Tufaros and the nonprofit they established in their daughter’s loving memory.
Frank Noppenberger, executive director of the Greater Middlesex Conference, of which the Falcons are a member, commended the St. Joseph administration for approving the football program’s initiative to donate to The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
He praised the entire school-community – especially the players, their parents and the coaches – for collaborating on the effort.
“It’s rewarding to see schools paying it forward,” said Noppenberger, who also serves on our foundation’s board of trustees. “I applaud St. Joseph for what they are doing, especially in this day and age, when parochial schools are closing because of finances, and you’ve got a school looking at the bigger picture and seeing how this is going to help kids in the future.
“The unique thing about athletics and schools is they always take care of their own, and St. Joseph in this case certainly is helping out Greg and the Tufaro Foundation in an unforgettable way.”
The back of the specially designed black commemorative T-shirts with white screen print bears St. Joseph’s official logo of an interlocking STJ beneath a halo that is flanked by angel’s wings. The words “Marisa’s Missionaries” are positioned underneath the logo and above a message reading “THE FALCON FLOCK FLIES WITH AN ANGEL TO SUPPORT THE MARISA TUFARO FOUNDATION.” The school’s insignia appears above the word “FOOTBALL” on the front of the T-shirts.
Other St. Joseph athletic programs, including the school’s ice hockey, basketball, bowling, swimming and baseball teams, have supported The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
USA TODAY featured the St. Joseph ice hockey program’s relationship with the Tufaro family in a story that appeared online shortly after Marisa’s passing.
Baseball players from St. Joseph joined their peers across the conference in wearing commemorative purple wristbands bearing Marisa’s initials in the months after her passing.
Basketball and baseball players from the school have competed in all-star games benefiting the foundation.
The bowling team participated in the Marisa Tufaro Classic and the swimming team participated in a swim-a-thon, with money raised from both events benefiting our nonprofit.
Marisa, who would have been a junior 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, she 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 that riddled her brain and body.
Marisa succumbed to her illness following a valiant battle on Jan. 30, 2017.
Some of the ways our nonprofit has made an impact are detailed below:
- Sponsored more than 60 student-athletes from South Brunswick High School, who are donating their time and youthful energy to participate in a charity kickball tournament benefiting an inspirational township 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 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.
- 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 St. Joseph High School football program to pack and donate more than 100 “Weekend Snack Bags” for pediatric patients’ families at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick.
- 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.
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.
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.