In honor of the players and coaches who participated in the Soccer for a Cause Charity Festival, our nonprofit made a $1,000 donation to REPLENISH, a regional food bank serving Middlesex County residents including an estimated 30,000 children
Soccer for a Cause Charity Festival raises nearly $17,000 for Go4TheGold and The Marisa Tufaro Foundation
Through their participation in the Soccer for a Cause Charity Festival, 14 high school girls soccer teams from the Greater Middlesex Conference combined to raise a total of nearly $17,000 for two New Jersey-based nonprofits.
In addition, the nearly 300 players and coaches involved in the fundraising event collected nonperishable food items for REPLENISH, Nourishing Neighbors (formerly MCFOODS), a regional food bank serving Middlesex County residents.
The showcase, held Oct. 8 at Metuchen High School, featured seven games between evenly matched teams from the conference’s Blue and White divisions.
Go4theGoal – whose mission is to improve the lives of children battling cancer nationwide by providing financial support, developing and implementing unique hospital programs, funding innovative research, and granting personal wishes – and The Marisa Tufaro Foundation – which assists pediatric patients and children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area – were the charity festival’s beneficiaries.
“I am so pleased with the outcomes for our festival,” said Metuchen High School girls soccer coach Mike Knoth, who collaborated with his peers from the Blue and White divisions to orchestrate the fundraising event.
“Our players were engaged and involved in all aspects of the event from supporting our chosen charities and the food bank to the actual competition. The games were good matches and the girls enjoyed themselves. It was fun to see opponents actually socializing in between games.”
Knoth expressed gratitude to all participants, “especially the coaches, who led their girls in such a positive manner.”
He said coaches from the two divisions “are already discussing how we can improve this (event) for next year.”
Metuchen High School Athletics Director John Cathcart said the festival “provided a great opportunity for our participating student-athletes to showcase their teamwork, skills, and mental toughness.”
“It was an opportunity for them to meet new people, and to cheer for people they may have competed against before, and further build camaraderie on their own teams,” Cathcart said.
“Rarely does an opportunity like this come along where you can devote so much of yourself to such a worthy cause.”
Cathcart said participating teams were driven by the “spirit of sportsmanship” to “do their very best” in their fundraising efforts and while competing in the showcase. He said all of the student-athletes were “outstanding role models.”
Friendly competition on and off the field
The launch and build up for the event fittingly occurred in September, which was National Hunger Awareness Month and National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The fundraising and nonperishable food item collections commenced during that time.
Former Metuchen High School and Rutgers University star Kristen Edmonds, who now plays professionally for Kansas City in the National Women’s Soccer League, recorded an inspirational video message for participants that resonated with the players and their coaches.
Blue Division participants included Carteret, J.F. Kennedy, Metuchen, Middlesex, Saint Thomas Aquinas, South Plainfield, and Spotswood.
Colonia, Edison, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, and Woodbridge represented the White Division.
The top fundraising teams from each division – Carteret from the Blue and Colonia from the White – were publicly recognized during a special awards presentation on the day of the festival with each team receiving a plaque. Ron Mazzola of Prestige Imaging in Old Bridge donated the awards.
All players and coaches were gifted specially designed T-shirts courtesy of event sponsors Mangia Toscano of Metuchen and R & D Promotions of Milltown.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation and Go4theGoal each provided all participants with commemorative wristbands.
Metuchen School District Superintendent Vincent Caputo said the district was “super-excited” to host the festival.
“First of all, from a competition standpoint, I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to showcase great student-athletes from 14 different schools,” Caputo said.
“We know long after the October 9th event the (charity) work is going to continue through these partnerships.”
Fighting pediatric cancer
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 GMC 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 10,500 children ages 1 to 14 in the United States will be diagnosed with cancer. Cancer will claim the lives of about 1,190 children under the age of 15 nationwide in 2021. 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, 84% 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 the type of cancer with which a child is diagnosed and other factors).
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.
Reciprocal relationship
Cyndi and Greg Tufaro established The Marisa Tufaro Foundation in loving memory of their daughter, Marisa, an Edison Township Public Schools honor roll student who succumbed four years ago at the age of 13 to a rare form of blood cancer following a heart transplant and six open-heart surgeries.
Since its inception in 2017, the nonprofit has donated $225,000 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. In addition, the foundation has awarded scholarships to more than three dozen Middlesex County students.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has benefited from dozens of fundraisers, ranging in size from individual events at GMC schools to conference-wide all-star games and tournaments featuring student-athletes from the entire league.
“The GMC has been our nonprofit’s biggest supporter,” said Cyndi Tufaro, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s executive director. “Words can never express our gratitude to all those throughout the conference who have selflessly worked together over the past four years to profoundly impact the lives of children in need. The GMC girls soccer community continued that tradition in exemplary fashion. We are honored to join Go4theGoal as a beneficiary of this amazing charity festival.”
Several GMC sports teams have participated in community service projects The Marisa Tufaro Foundation sponsored, fostering a reciprocal relationship between the nonprofit and conference schools.
In the spirit of paying the GMC’s kindness forward and in honor of the players and coaches who participated in the charity festival, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation made a $1,000 donation to REPLENISH, which serves a network of more than 140 local food pantries, soup kitchens and social service agencies.
Food for thought
REPLENISH projected a food insecurity increase in Middlesex County from 7.3% before the pandemic’s onset to nearly 12% in 2020 with the number of food insecure residents jumping from 60,660 to 98,490. More than 30,000 of those residents were children.
Food insecurity, according to REPLENISH, remains at an all-time high, and with the holiday season approaching and families still recovering from the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ida and Hurricane Henri, the regional food bank will benefit from the GMC girls soccer community’s effort.
“The reality is that far too many families struggle to put food on the table, even more so over the past year and a half, and it’s amazing that there are organizations like REPLENISH that are committed to helping those families make ends meet,” Middlesex coach Tim Morris said.
“But they can’t do it alone, and we wanted our players to come away with an appreciation for how their contributions back to their community, however small, collectively can make a huge impact, as well as hopefully inspire others to do the same.”
‘We are all proud of you’
The objective of the charity festival was 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.
Regardless of the outcomes of the seven games that were contested on Oct. 9, pediatric cancer patients, children in need and food insecure families all benefited from one common goal.
Senator Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., whose legislative district encompasses seven Middlesex County municipalities, three of which were represented in the festival, praised the student-athletes and their coaches for participating in the event.
“On behalf of the entire state and our governor, Governor Phil Murphy, I want to congratulate the 14 girls high school soccer teams,” said Diegnan, who also serves on The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
“I’ve always said that sports celebrate what’s good in young people, and you are proving that by participating in the fundraiser and the food drive.
“Keep up the good work. We are all proud of you.”