Children in need are true winners of Marisa Tufaro Classic bowling tournament

Born with a complex cardiac defect, Marisa Tufaro lived with a medical condition that restricted her from some physical activity, but never prevented her from bowling.

Marisa, who died in 2017 at the age of 13 from a rare form of cancer following six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant, enjoyed her time at Stelton Lanes in Piscataway and at Milford Lanes in Delaware during family vacations.

Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and attending hundreds of doctors’ appointments, Marisa was an Edison Township Public Schools honor roll student involved in myriad extracurricular activities.

She is the inspiration behind the Marisa Tufaro Classic, a season-opening bowling tournament and holiday toy drive conducted today at Majestic Lanes in Woodbridge, where 40 boys and girls high school teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference and elsewhere across the state competed.

Woodbridge won the boys title (click here to read story) and Brick Township claimed the girls championship (click here to read story).

Awards were presented to the team champions and team runners-up and team third-place finishers in each division, as well as to the three girls and boys bowlers with the highest individual game and the three girls and boys bowlers who roll the highest series in each division.

Jim Gano of Crown Trophy in Flemington, who designed and gifted plaques for the last two tournaments, once again generously donating awards for this year’s event.

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Hundreds of new and unwrapped toys were collected for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which will donate them to pediatric patients at Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center and children in need who Hands of Hope for the Community serves this holiday season.

Toys donated to the hospital will meet the needs of pediatric inpatients and visitors to the hospital’s Pediatric Emergency Department, who can benefit at any time from a diversion to help cope with the anxiety and pain that can accompany treatments, medical procedures, and extended admissions.

Toys donated to Hands of Hope for the Community will be distributed as holiday presents to Middlesex County children in need during an event in late December at Saint James Episcopal Church in Edison.

The wildly successful bowling tournament, which Amanda Small, as Woodbridge High School’s head coach, founded in 2018 and continues to run with support from the high school and school district, has generated thousands of toys for pediatric patients and children in need, as well as thousands of dollars for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.

“Amanda wanted to offer another option for a holiday tournament to kick off the year, and she came up with the idea to host one in Woodbridge Township to benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation,” Woodbridge Athletics Director Joe Ward said. “We were 100 percent on board when she brought the idea to us. Amanda is hard-working and dedicated to the sport of bowling. She’s always looking to assist the school and the community in any way she can, and I think this is a great example of that.”

Since its inception in 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated more than $400,000 to fulfill its mission.

In addition, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has spearheaded numerous community initiatives resulting in the collection of thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, baby supplies, winter jackets, school supplies, children’s books, and other items for donation upon which the nonprofit has placed no monetary value.

The foundation has also awarded $36,500 in scholarships to high school seniors and sent 32 elementary and middle school students to a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.

The Marisa Tufaro Foundation is eternally grateful for the support it has received from Woodbridge High School, which has also hosted Greater Middlesex Conference all-star games in multiple sports, the Tecmo Bowl for Tufaro, and a Pictures with Santa event as fundraisers.

In addition, the school community has donated money raised from a dress down day and the entire gate from three of its football team’s home openers to the nonprofit. Countless student-athletes and coaches from multiple sports have participated in other fundraising events and donation drives that benefited The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.

“We’ve been blessed beyond words with amazing support from so many people, including the Woodbridge Township school community,” said Marisa’s mother, Cyndi Tufaro, who is also the foundation’s executive director.

“Our nonprofit doesn’t take a second donated or a penny raised for granted. The kindness and generosity of Woodbridge and the entire high school bowling community has been extraordinary.

“We hope their benevolence is exponentially returned.”