A high school wrestling match will celebrate the life of Marisa Tufaro and raise money for the foundation bearing her name.
Proceeds from Wednesday’s third annual Marisa Tufaro Memorial Dual between host South Plainfield and Old Bridge, including donations, that will be accepted at the door, will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to help children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
The event commences at 6:45 p.m. with a pre-match ceremony at the Anthony J. Cotoia Gymnasium.
An individual Most Valuable Wrestler trophy, courtesy of Ron Mazzola and Prestige Imaging, will be awarded to the top performer from each team at the conclusion of the dual.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s leadership will also make a special presentation to the head coaches of both high school wrestling programs before the meet.
State Sen. Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., a South Plainfield graduate and member of the high school’s Hall of Fame, and Frank Noppenberger, executive director of the Greater Middlesex Conference, will be in attendance. Both serve on The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s board of trustees.
The superintendent of the district whose high school wins the dual meet also wins the right to “pie” his or her counterpart after the match, according to an agreement between South Plainfield’s Dr. Noreen Lishak and Old Bridge’s David Cittadino.
Members of the South Plainfield and Old Bridge wrestling programs have purchased specially designed T-shirts in their respective school colors to heighten awareness about the foundation, with all proceeds benefiting the nonprofit. Wrestlers will wear the shirts Wednesday night.
“The GMC wrestling community goes to the mat for an angel” is inscribed on the back of the shirt in capital letters under the image of two wrestlers flanked by angel wings and positioned beneath a halo. The front of the shirt bears a circular logo on the left breast uniting the foundation with the conference.
“What’s really impressive about when Old Bridge and South Plainfield wrestle – and they are two undeniably storied programs in Middlesex County – is the intense rivalry is almost overshadowed by the beneficiary (of the dual meet) and the reason they are wrestling,” Noppenberger said. “Not only do they help the foundation, but they show the power that athletics, especially high school sports, can have on a community. There is no doubt in my mind that the South Plainfield and Old Bridge communities, specifically their wrestling programs, have developed the idea of paying it forward, especially in this situation.”
South Plainfield and Old Bridge have played pivotal roles, along with countless other high school athletics programs across Middlesex County, in supporting The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
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 Greater Middlesex Conference-wide all-star games and tournaments in which student-athletes from the entire league have participated.
Old Bridge hosted a wildly successful toy drive during a “Holiday Knight” themed 2017 football game that collected thousands of toys for donation to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children Hospital and Saint Peter’s University Children’s Hospital.
Cittadino actually brought a live reindeer to that event. Last year, as the superintendent from the district whose high school lost the dual meet against South Plainfield, Cittadino actually kissed a pig.
Over the last two years, the Marisa Tufaro Memorial Dual has generated nearly $8,000 for the foundation bearing her name.
The tax-exempt nonprofit was established in loving memory of Marisa, who passed away at the age of 13 nearly three years ago. She would have been a junior this year at Edison High School.
Since its inception on July 30, 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has already made a profound impact, donating more than $125,000 to assist pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
The foundation, 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 nonprofit has placed no monetary value.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has also awarded 17 scholarships to Greater Middlesex Conference student-athletes, including two former South Plainfield High School wrestlers.
Marisa is the daughter of veteran Home News Tribune sports reporter Greg Tufaro, a cofounder of the New Jersey Wrestling Writers Association, and longtime Edison Township Public Schools educator Cyndi Tufaro.
Cyndi and Greg are grateful beyond words for all who have played a role in making the third annual memorial match come to fruition including the South Plainfield Athletic Booster Club and the South Plainfield Wrestling Club, as well as the boards of education, administrations, coaches, wrestlers and wrestling parents from both school districts.
Marisa Tufaro was born with a complex cardiac defect that required six open-heart surgeries. A heart transplant, which was supposed to extend Marisa’s life, tragically cut it short after a postoperative complication developed into a rare form of Stage IV cancer, to which she succumbed following a valiant battle. Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa lived a vibrant life that inspired.
Those attending Wednesday night’s dual will receive free foundation wristbands and thank you letters from the nonprofit.
Following are some of the ways The Marisa Tufaro Foundation helped pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area (please click on any of the hotlinks below to read about each endeavor).
- 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 this holiday season.
- 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 this holiday season.
- 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 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.
- 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 a second consecutive year 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 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.
- Supported instruction and supplies for an art therapy program at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital for a third consecutive year.
- 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.
- 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.
- Provided six summer art camp scholarships to Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum for Middlesex County elementary and middle school students.
- Provided college scholarship dollars to 10 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.
- 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.
- Assisted multiple families whose children are in medical crisis, providing financial support through the payment of medical and/or personal expenses. Respecting their privacy, the foundation never divulges the names of those individuals or the dollar amount of assistance it provides.
- Paid forward the generosity Saint Thomas Aquinas 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- Provided 7 summer art camp scholarships to Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum for Middlesex County elementary and middle school students.
- Provided college scholarship dollars to 7 high school students whose classroom performance and extracurricular involvement reflected Marisa’s educational success and whose charitable endeavors aligned with our foundation’s mission.
- 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.
- Provided James Monroe Elementary School students with food items to fill a hundred “Weekend Snack Bags” for pediatric patients’ families.
- 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.