All proceeds from the 10th annual Edison Township Education Association volleyball tournament will benefit Kiddie Keep Well Camp, Buddy Ball of Edison and The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
ETEA members and staff district-wide will join other board of education employees as participants or volunteers working the event, which will be held at John P. Stevens High School on Feb. 26.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the competition, featuring one team from each of the township’s schools, commences 30 minutes later.
The ETEA will equally divide all proceeds from the event among the three local charitable organizations.
Marisa, who would have been a junior this year at Edison High School, was an honor roll student at James Monroe and Herbert Hoover Middle School.
The role outstanding Edison Township educators played in Marisa’s complete development can never be overstated.
Marisa’s mother, Cyndi, who is the principal at James Monroe Elementary School, will play in this year’s event as a member of James Monroe’s team.
ABOUT KIDDIE KEEP WELL CAMP
Located in Edison’s scenic Roosevelt Park, Kiddie Keep Well Camp has provided residential camping experiences for underserved children of Middlesex County for nearly a century.
With room to accommodate 150 campers at a time, Kiddie Keep Well Camp features nine cabins, two swimming pools, a learning center and other amenities.
Kiddie Keep Well Camp annually accepts more than 600 campers, age 7 through 13, to attend one of its four 11-day sessions at no cost. The camp provides comprehensive educational and recreational programming and is an ideal place to connect with nature, build community, learn, grow and have fun.
The camp receives referrals from school nurses, guidance counselors, principals and the New Jersey Department of Youth and Family Services to identify children who would not otherwise be able to attend a summer camp.
Activities for campers include swimming, arts and crafts, storytelling, nature activities, dance and drama, sports, games, music and special events including olympics and holiday celebrations. Kiddie Keep Well Camp also holds fire-safety lessons.
A social worker under Kiddie Keep Well Camp’s employ conducts sessions on anger management, self-esteem and other character-building skills.
Kiddie Keep Well Camp is accredited by the American Camp Association and licensed by the State Department of Health.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has provided funding to Kiddie Keep Well Camp, enabling it to purchase brand new metal bunk beds for campers, as well as shorts and shirts for campers.
ABOUT BUDDY BALL OF EDISON
Buddy Ball of Edison provides opportunities for children with special needs to play sports in a fun and safe environment.
The nonprofit organization offers programs for baseball, basketball, soccer and bowling, and runs social events, as well.
Buddy Ball participants get exercise while improving their skills and socializing with their peers. Participants benefit from the assistance of volunteers, many of who are students and teachers from Edison Township schools.
John P. Stevens baseball coach Dave Marzano, who has volunteered at Buddy Ball events, along with his players and other students from the high school, said the nonprofit’s leadership does “a great job.”
“When you see somebody like that put in the time, it makes you want to give more,” Marzano said. “The amount of time they give up to give these kids and their families a couple hours of enjoyment (through each activity) is really special.”
Marzano said the children Buddy Ball of Edison serve inspire him and his players to want to continue volunteering.
“It’s definitely been rewarding for both myself and my players,” Marzano said. “I know my players get a lot out of volunteering.”
Marzano said Buddy Ball events allow mothers and fathers to watch their children learn and grow, while also providing them with an opportunity to relax and meet other parents.
“Just to be able to give the parents a chance to sit back and watch their child participate in a sport they never thought they would have an opportunity to participate in is really special,” Marzano said. “It’s great. I love volunteering.”
The program enables participants to be part of an organized sport, develop social skills and create friendships with peers and volunteers.
ABOUT THE MARISA TUFARO FOUNDATION
The tax-exempt nonprofit was established in loving memory of Marisa, who passed away at the age of 13 just over three years ago.
Since its inception on July 30, 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has already made a profound impact, donating more than $130,000 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 awarded 17 scholarships to graduating seniors from Middlesex County high schools, and has awarded 13 scholarships for elementary and middle school students to attend a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.
Marisa was born with a complex cardiac defect which required six open-heart surgeries. She developed two life-threatening conditions that necessitated a heart transplant. The transplant was supposed to extend her life, but tragically cut it short when a postoperative complication developed into a rare form of blood cancer to which Marisa succumbed following a valiant battle on January 30, 2017.
Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctor’s appointments, Marisa lived a vibrant life that inspired.
Following are some of the ways The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has helped pediatric patients and other children in need (please click on the hotlinks to read about any of the initiatives).
- Provided funding for a part-time healthcare social worker to assist families of pediatric patients under the care of Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School’s Department of Pediatrics’ Division of Pediatric Cardiology.
- 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 70 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.
- 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.
- 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 Teamwork Unlimited Foundation to treat Special Olympics athletes from the Raritan Bay Area YMCA to a Somerset Patriots game experience.
- 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 the Saint 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.
- 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 Centerand 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.
- 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 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.
- 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 13 summer art camp scholarships to Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum for Middlesex County elementary and middle school students.
- Rewarded three high school students for their community service to children with scholarships.
- Provided a total of 14 college academic scholarships to Greater Middlesex Conference student-athletes whose classroom performance and extracurricular involvement reflects Marisa’s educational success and whose charitable endeavors align 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.
- Provided gift cards for pediatric patients and their families.
- 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 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.
- Provided James Monroe Elementary School students with food items to fill a hundred “Weekend Snack Bags” for pediatric patients’ families.
- 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.
- Paid forward the kindness of the Saint Joseph High School Campus Ministry with a generous donation to the Hands of Hope Food Pantry.
- 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.