As the recipient of a Greater Middlesex Conference Kindness Counts Award, Highland Park High School’s Ennyn Chiu received a commemorative plaque and $500 from The Peter Fund and The Marisa Tufaro Foundation to donate in her name to the charity of her choice that assists Middlesex County children in need.
Chiu selected Highland Park Buddy Ball as her beneficiary. The program is near and dear to her heart.
The senior student-athlete, who runs cross county and track, volunteers weekly with the program, teaching sports on Saturday mornings to special needs youngsters from the borough and surrounding community.
The Landis family, including former Highland Park soccer captain Harry Landis and current Highland Park track and field coach Elisabeth Landis, founded the Buddy Ball program in 2009 with their parents, Linda and Micky, and siblings, Matt and Michael. Their vision and mission remains to provide children of all skill levels an opportunity to play sports.
Collecting donations in lieu of gifts through their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, the Landis children combined to raise more than $40,000 to fund Highland Park Buddy Ball. The program pairs middle and high school student-athletes with children with special needs.
“The support and turnout from the teens in Highland Park has been incredible,” Elisabeth Landis said. “The student-athletes are so dedicated. It’s amazing that they want to wake up early and be here every week.”
In its 16th year, Highland Park Buddy Ball has approximately 50 volunteers serving more than two dozen children for a total of 20 weeks during the academic year. Activities include soccer, basketball, and bowling.
At the end of the year, each Buddy Ball participant receives a trophy, certificate and photographs commemorating their experience. One of the participants has been a part of the program since its inception.
Highland Park Buddy Ball has had a profound impact on the community, with the student-athletes often gaining more from their experience as mentors and friends than the children with special needs they support. The feeling of genuine love and happiness in the Highland Park Middle School gymnasium during a recent Buddy Ball session was palpable. Smiles on the children’s faces spoke volumes.
Inspired by their weekly interaction, several of the volunteers, including Elisabeth Landis, who works at Highland Park Middle School, have gone on to become special education teachers.
“This has really opened up my love for kids,” said Chiu, who has volunteered with the program for four years. “Being able to do this with my friends is really special for me. It’s great to see how the program has grown and how many people are here.”
Elisabeth Landis said receiving the Greater Middlesex Conference Kindness Counts Award donation from Chiu holds special meaning for her and her family.
“Ennyn is so amazing in ever way that she lives life,” Landis said. “She’s such an incredible person to be around. For her to decide to give that money (to Highland Park Buddy Ball), it’s so meaningful to see that she cares about Buddy Ball continuing even after she graduates.”
For exhibiting compassion, generosity, inclusiveness, and other qualities of benevolence, Chiu was honored with a Greater Middlesex Conference Kindness Counts Award during the league’s 23rd Annual Sportsmanship Awards Luncheon at The Pines Manor in Edison last month.
The Peter Fund and The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, who partnered with the conference to sponsor the award, presented Chiu with her $500 check and commemorative plaque.
The Kindness Counts Award was established in loving memory of high school student-athlete Peter Bonn-Elchoness, who died suddenly and without warning in his sleep from a rare disease that causes damage to the heart.
The 17-year-old from Niwot, Colorado was renowned throughout his school-community as a magnetic presence and gifted student-athlete who always looked out for others.
Shortly after his passing just 16 months ago, Peter’s family learned even more about his generosity of spirit through condolence letters they received from his classmates. Among other acts, Peter stood up to bullies, supported kids in crisis, and rooted for teammates and competitors.
His parents, Dave Elchoness and Eve Bonn, were told Peter saved lives. Dave and Eve established The Peter Fund, a nonprofit that encourages young people to mirror their son’s kind nature.
Peter’s father, Dave, an Edison High School alumnus, traveled nearly 1,800 miles to return to his hometown to present Chiu with the award.
Dave Elchoness is a friend and former Edison High School classmate of Cyndi Tufaro, who along with her husband Greg founded The Marisa Tufaro Foundation in memory of their inspirational daughter to assist pediatric patients and children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
Born with a severe cardiac defect, Marisa survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing in 2017 to a rare form of cancer. She was just 13 years old.
With incredible support from Greater Middlesex Conference schools, the foundation bearing Marisa’s name has donated nearly $350,000 to fulfill its mission along with thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter jackets, baby supplies, and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value.
In addition, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has awarded $29,500 in academic scholarships to 42 Middlesex County high school seniors and sent 20 elementary and middle school students to attend a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.
The Peter Fund and The Marisa Tufaro Foundation were elated to learn Chiu chose such a meaningful cause to pay forward her kindness, donating money to Highland Park Buddy Ball.
As captain of Highland Park’s cross country team and a caring student-athlete, Chiu embodies the spirit of the Kindness Counts Award.
During the team’s dynamic warmups, Chiu would often wander away from her friend group to talk with the underclassmen, sometimes dispensing advice and other times checking in to see how they were doing.
Living conveniently close to the high school, Chiu’s house became a de facto locker room for the program.
“It would not be rare to see teammates wearing Ennyn’s clothes or shoes when they forgot theirs or seeing her run home quickly to get a teammate a snack, stain remover, or whatever random request was asked of her,” Highland Park cross country coach Tim Stark said.
Chiu also arranged post-race team building events, which included team dinners, team movie nights and team projects.
“At the end of the season when I asked my runners, individually, what their best memories were from this past season, almost all of them mentioned team building,” Stark said. “The freshmen raved about how much these activities meant to them and how they look forward to bringing the next generation of Highland Park runners into the team.”
Stark said the team-building events not only allowed the freshmen to feel included in a group that has spent years together but fostered a group that felt more like a family than a team.
“I’m proud to say that this is a part of Ennyn’s legacy which will endure on the Highland Park cross country and track teams,” said Stark, noting Chiu supports all the high school’s athletics programs.
“I’ve often heard her ask teammates if they are going to the volleyball game after practice, or seen her at a soccer game, or at a wrestling match cheering on other athletes,” Stark explained. “This year, she asked permission to support the tennis team by modifying the cross country practice route to run laps around the tennis courts at a nearby park during a Highland Park match.”
Whenever Highland Park worked out with or competed against another school, Stark said Chiu “would introduce herself to the other runners and coaches, get to know them, and cheer and support runners from other schools as if they were a part of our team.”
As the year unfolded, Stark said, those same runners would visit Highland Park’s tent at Greater Middlesex Conference meets to connect with Chiu.
Earlier this academic year, Chiu expressed interest in running a half marathon between the cross country and indoor track seasons.
“She and her friends did not think it was worth the expense to run an official half marathon when they just wanted to run 13.1 miles to challenge themselves and have a good time,” Stark said.
“Instead, they turned it into a fundraiser, where people sponsored them for $1 per mile toward 4EveryKid, a charity that gives shoes to homeless children across the nation. Ennyn sent a template out to the team to ask people to sponsor them, arranged the run, and in a few days she and nine of her friends found dozens of sponsors, ran 13.1 miles, played music, had a great time, and raised a significant amount of money toward 4EveryKid.”
As a student-athlete, Chiu could have opted out of physical education class and signed in late to school.
“Instead,” Stark said, “Ennyn’s genuine care and desire to support others motivated her to join a pilot class, which brings high school students into a middle school physical education class for students with autism. In the class, Ennyn engages with the middle school students, creates lessons and activities, and guides them as a mentor.
“Ennyn often expresses how much she loves being in the class, shares daily stories and anecdotes with me, and has clearly built a strong rapport with the students. Her effort doesn’t stay just in the classroom but flows outward as she includes these students in her social community by greeting them enthusiastically in the hallways, showing up to support them at their orchestra concert, and simply, but significantly, being their friend.”
Stark said Chiu inherited a wonderful team culture from her predecessors at Highland Park and “found countless ways to improve upon it through inclusivity, spreading kindness and being a friend to all.
“Teaching, talking to, and learning from Ennyn reminds me that one of the most important parts of being on a high school athletic team will be the friendships you make and the experiences you cultivate,” Stark said.
“It would be an understatement to say that Ennyn has made my job as a coach better and easier these past four years and has enhanced the experience of her friends on the team.”