After securing a dramatic 5-4 victory over Piscataway in the Greater Middlesex Conference Soccer for a Cause Charity Festival, the John F. Kennedy High School girls soccer team learned it was an even bigger winner off the field.
Spurred by the remarkable efforts of senior forward Abby Karas, who single-handedly collected more than $5,000 in donations, event officials announced the Mustangs raised the most money for Go4theGoal, one of the charity festival’s beneficiaries.
The other top fundraiser was Edison High School, which generated the most monetary donations for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, the event’s other beneficiary.
Twenty high school girls soccer teams from the conference united to help pediatric cancer patients and other children in need through their participation in the festival.
The third annual showcase was held Saturday at North Brunswick and Metuchen high schools with 10 games between evenly matched teams.
Katelyn Figueiredo scored the game-winner for the Mustangs in their victory over Piscataway.
Paula Antunes knotted the contest at 4-4 for J.F. Kennedy, converting a feed from Figueiredo into a goal. Gabriella Freeman and Amelia Lopez each netted a tally in the second half to erase a one-goal deficit, giving the Chiefs a 4-3 lead.
Figueiredo scored twice for the Mustangs, while Sanai Trotman and Karas each netted a goal. Alexandra Sinckler and Isabella Williams tallied one goal apiece for Piscataway, which was outshot 11-9.
Over the past two years, the festival has raised nearly $30,000 for charity while also generating more than 1.5 tons of food for REPLENISH, which serves a network of more than 160 local food pantries, soup kitchens and social service agencies.
Go4theGoal’s mission is to improve the lives of children battling cancer by providing financial support, developing, and implementing unique hospital programs, funding innovative research, and granting personal wishes.
The soccer festival fittingly occurs in September, which is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and National Hunger Awareness Month.
The objective of the charity festival is to create a competitive environment and develop friendly rivalries among participating teams while emphasizing good sportsmanship, positive communication, mutual respect, and giving back to the community through a collaborative effort.
In the weeks leading up to the showcase, participating teams engaged in a friendly competition off the field to raise money for the two charities.
North Brunswick, East Brunswick, Old Bridge, Monroe, Piscataway, South Brunswick, J.P. Stevens, Edison, Carteret, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and South River raised money for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
Metuchen, Colonia, Woodbridge, Sayreville, New Brunswick, North Plainfield, South Plainfield, J.F. Kennedy, Spotswood, Wardlaw-Hartridge, and Middlesex raised money for Go4theGoal.
The top fundraising teams for each charity were publicly recognized during a special awards presentation at the festival.
The late Ron Mazzola of Prestige Imaging in Old Bridge donated the plaque upon which the names of the top fundraising schools were engraved. Colonia and Carteret were the top fundraisers in 2021, while Colonia shared the honor with Old Bridge in 2022.
New Jersey residents Dr. Richard Stefanacci and his wife, Beth, founded Go4theGoal in 2006, soon after their oldest child was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer.
Go4theGoal’s Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer fundraising initiative was created in 2011 in response to New Jersey youth soccer teams that wanted to help make a difference, and now gives sports teams across the country an opportunity to raise awareness and much-needed support. All funds stay in the state they are raised to help local children battling cancer.
“On behalf of Go4theGoal, we are incredibly honored to be one of two beneficiaries for the Greater Middlesex Conference Charity Festival,” said Beth Stefanacci, Go4theGoal’s executive director.
“We have had the privilege of partnering with a number of girls soccer teams in the Greater Middlesex Conference through our Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer initiative over the past several years. We are truly grateful to all of the coaches for including us. It is only because of the efforts of teams like these that we are able to make a difference in the lives of kids battling cancer and their families in New Jersey.”
According to the American Cancer Society, this year about 9,910 children between 1 and 14 years of age in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer. Cancer will claim the lives of about 1,040 children under the age of 15 nationwide in 2023. Cancer is second only to accidents as the leading cause of death in children 14 and younger.
Childhood cancer rates have been rising slightly for the past few decades, but with major advances in treatment, 85% of children with cancer now survive five years or more, a significant increase from the mid-1970s when the five-year survival rate was less than 60% (survival rates vary greatly depending on myriad factors including the type of cancer with which a child is diagnosed).
Since 2007, Go4theGoal has funded more than $1 million in pediatric cancer research and works with nearly 200 hospitals across the country to provide assistance to patients and families.
Go4theGoal has annually been rated since 2011 as a top nonprofit by GreatNonprofits.com and has a Platinum Seal of Approval from Guidestar.