All proceeds from the first annual Greater Middlesex Conference Baseball Coaches Association Charity Golf Outing, sponsored by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
The event will be held June 13 at Bunker Hill Golf Course in Princeton. Check in is 7:30 a.m.
Registration for the charity golf outing was conducted privately through the GMC Baseball Coaches Association.
The event includes golf with cart, breakfast, lunch, a commemorative polo shirt, refreshments and snacks on the course, golf favors and a donation from The Marisa Tufaro Foundation to a local children’s hospital in the name of each participant.
The golf outing will be conducted as a shotgun with a scramble format.
Bagel Boy on 2329 Highway 516 in Old Bridge is providing breakfast, Hott Carl’s Pizza of Matawan is providing lunch and Galya Athletics of Central Jersey is providing commemorative polo shirts.
Prizes will be awarded for closest-to-the-pin and longest drive contests, as well as for a closest-to-the-pin contest using a fungo bat and a hole-in-one contest.
ABOUT THE MARISA TUFARO FOUNDATION
Established on July 30, 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has already made a profound impact, donating nearly $200,000 to help pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
The tax-exempt nonprofit, 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 foundation has placed no monetary value.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has assisted multiple families whose children are in medical crisis, providing financial support through the payment of medical and/or personal expenses to help lessen the burden of parents who have lost wages while spending time at the hospital or caring for a child at home.
The foundation has awarded 26 college academic scholarships in Marisa’s name to high school seniors and an additional 13 scholarships for elementary and middle school students to attend a week-long summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum.
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 GMC-wide all-star games and tournaments in which student-athletes from the entire league have participated.
ABOUT MARISA
Marisa, who would have been a senior 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, Marisa was a well-rounded honor-roll student in elementary and middle school who lived a vibrant life that inspired.
After her sixth open-heart surgery, Marisa developed two life-threatening conditions that necessitated a heart transplant. The transplant, which was supposed to extend Marisa’s life, tragically cut it short when a postoperative complication developed into a rare form of cancer known as post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder.
After radiation and chemotherapy treatments failed to thwart the relentless onslaught of the aggressive disease, which riddled her brain and body, Marisa succumbed to her illness following a valiant battle on January 30, 2017. She was just 13 years old.
Marisa received outstanding care from the staff and physicians at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick, Saint Peter’s University Hospital in New Brunswick, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, Boston Children’s Hospital and from some of the outpatient services Children’s Specialized Hospital provides.
Through the remarkable generosity of others, who have donated or participated in fundraising events, Marisa’s parents, Cyndi and Greg, have been blessed to give back to each of those hospitals by paying forward the extraordinary kindness of others.
Following are some of the ways The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has helped pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area since its inception less than four years ago (please click on any of the hotlinks below to read about each endeavor).
- Partnered with the Give-Back Initiative to donate gift cards valued at $100 each to 44 Edison Township families in need, helping them purchase food, necessities and presents during the holiday season.
- Provided Thanksgiving Day dinners to patients and their families at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick.
- Partnered with Woodbridge High School through its “Pictures with Santa” event to make an $1,800 financial and gift card donation to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital in support of the hospital’s virtual toy drive.
- Partnered with the Give-Back Initiative to donate $4,000 to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital in New Brunswick. The money will be used to purchase iPads, as well as age and developmentally appropriate toys and games for pediatric patients that will be available for distribution, not only during the holiday season, but throughout the ensuing year, to meet the needs of patients, all of who can benefit at any time from a diversion to help cope with the stress and pain that can accompany treatments, medical procedures and extended admissions.
- Donated a total of $3,000 to PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital and the Lakeview School in honor of the football players and cheerleaders who would have participated in the 27th annual Middlesex-Union County All-Star Game, a charity event which the coronavirus pandemic canceled.
- As a way of giving back to the Greater Middlesex Conference, which has been among our nonprofit’s biggest supporters, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation jump-started the league’s fundraising effort to feed county families during the coronavirus pandemic with a $2,500 donation to the Middlesex County Food Organization and Outreach Distribution Services.
- Donated $3,000 to RWJBarnabas Health’s children’s hospitals, paying forward the kindness of football players and coaches who support our nonprofit and in honor of their ability to navigate a pandemic-impacted season.
- 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.
- Partnered with the Colonia High School football team to tackle a Super Bowl-themed community service project that benefited pediatric patients and their families at PSE&G Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick.
- 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 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.
- 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.
- 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 summer art camp scholarships to Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum for 13 Middlesex County elementary and middle school students.
- Provided college scholarship dollars to 25 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.
- 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 during the holiday season.
- 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 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.
- Made a donation in recognition of Piscataway’s Conackamack Middle School, which honored Marisa during its 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.
- 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 during the holiday season.
- 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.