The Marisa Tufaro Foundation would like to express its heartfelt gratitude to the entire Greater Middlesex Conference basketball community and to all who attended tonight’s 26th annual Senior All-Star doubleheader for enabling Marisa’s legacy to be one of helping others.
This is the third consecutive year the GMC Basketball Coaches Association has adopted our tax-exempt nonprofit, which assists pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area, as a beneficiary.
Through the generosity of the GMCBCA and others, who have donated or participated in fundraising events, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which was established less than 20 months ago, already has made a profound impact, donating more than $65,000 (details can be found below).
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has assisted children affiliated with Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital, Saint Peter’s University Children’s Hospital, Kiddie Keep Well Camp, the Lakeview School, Special Strides Therapeutic Riding Center, Hands of Hope Food Pantry, FISH Hospitality Program, the Ronald McDonald House of Central Jersey, Project Walk, PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital and elsewhere.
The nonprofit annually awards college scholarships to exceptional high school students who exemplify Marisa’s indomitable spirit with the Marisa Tufaro Foundation GMC Scholar-Athlete Scholarship and the Marisa Tufaro Memorial Community Service Scholarship. Seniors may apply before April 30 (details at MarisaTufaroFoundaton.org).
The foundation also has spearheaded multiple community initiatives, resulting in the collection of thousands of toys, winter coats, baby supplies, nonperishable food and other items for donation.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all who volunteered their time and expertise to make tonight’s doubleheader a success, including coaches, game officials, clock and scoreboard operators, and certified athletics trainers. We are also eternally grateful to Middlesex County College for donating its outstanding facility and to Leisure Sporting Goods and NJ Smiles Dental for donating the game shirts for tonight’s participants.
Marisa, who would have been a sophomore this year 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 Stage IV cancer to which she succumbed following a valiant battle on Jan. 30, 2017. She was just 13 years old.
Marisa’s father, Greg, is a sports writer for the Home News Tribune. Her mother, Cyndi, is a longtime Edison Township Public Schools educator.
We congratulate all the seniors participating in tonight’s doubleheader on their outstanding high school careers and wish them continued success in their future endeavors.
Following are hot links to stories detailing 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.