First responders from the Port Reading Fire Department and EMS will transport holiday cheer with two ambulances full of toys for pediatric patients on Friday afternoon.
The presents, which were collected as part of the department’s first annual Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration, conducted at the firehouse last week, reflected outstanding community support and will be delivered in conjunction with The Marisa Tufaro Foundation to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital’s Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital (BMSCH).
The delivery of more than 40 boxes of toys will include donations collected during the Marisa Tufaro Classic, a bowling tournament held last month at Majestic Lanes in Hopelawn, which featured girls and boys teams from more than 20 Central Jersey high schools, including host Woodbridge, which sponsored the event.
Amanda Small, the head bowling coach at Woodbridge, and her father, Brian, a councilman at-large in the township who is also president of the Port Reading First Aid Squad, coordinated the tournament and tree lighting celebration as a joint toy drive.
Port Reading Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony (Photo: ~The Marisa Tufaro Foundation)
The toys will be available for distribution, not only during the holiday season, but throughout the year, to meet the needs of pediatric patients, all of whom 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. Parents of hospitalized children, some of whom are overwhelmed with medical bills and other related costs, may not be able to afford presents, or are so consumed with caring for their ill child that shopping, even online, is not a possibility or a priority.
Ryan Terebetsky, an inspirational elementary school student from Woodbridge Township winning a battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow that affects white blood cells, was the guest of honor during last week’s holiday celebration, providing the magic touch with the push of a button that illuminated the beautifully decorated Christmas tree in front of the firehouse.
“Ryan is doing better,” Brian Small told the crowd of hundreds gathered in front of the firehouse, who greeted Terebetsky with a thunderous round of applause. “He looks great and he is ready to go.”
Ryan Terebetsky provides the magic touch to light the Christmas tree. (Photo: ~The Marisa Tufaro Foundation)
The donation of toys to BMSCH, into whose Hematology Oncology Unit Terebetsky was admitted nine months ago upon being diagnosed with leukemia, is meaningful to Ryan’s family, including his mother, Lauren, and father, Anthony, a Woodbridge Township firefighter.
The children’s hospital also holds a special place in the hearts of the parents of The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s namesake, Cyndi and Greg, whose daughter, Marisa, received outstanding love and care from BMSCH. Dr. Joseph Gaffney, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Division Chief, Pediatric Cardiology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, cared for Marisa throughout her entire life.
Dignitaries in attendance at the ceremony included Woodbridge Mayor John E. McCormac, Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders Director Ronald G. Rios, Freeholder Deputy Director Charles Tomaro, Woodbridge High School Principal Glenn Lottmann, and members of the township council and township board of education.
After the Woodbridge High School jazz choir and St. Anthony’s children’s choir performed holiday carols, those in attendance at last week’s holiday celebration were invited inside the firehouse to take pictures with Santa courtesy of the township’s mayor and council, to indulge in tasty treats courtesy of award-winning D’Orsi’s Bakery, to partake in crafts and activities including some of which The Learning Junction Daycare and Preschool donated, and to warm up with some hot cocoa.
Port Reading Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony (Photo: ~The Marisa Tufaro Foundation)
The interior of the firehouse, which was as well decorated as its exterior, provided visitors with a cozy holiday feeling. Children sat on Santa’s lap atop his throne-like red chair, fittingly positioned in front of a scenic winter backdrop, for photographs in the firehouse meeting room. Afterwards, they were invited inside the garage, whose bays were filled with activities, affording each child the opportunity to decorate a cookie, create a holiday ornament, receive a glitter tattoo, color pictures and write a letter to Santa which could be placed inside a special mailbox.
Santa, who had been traveling around the township earlier in the night, kicked off last week’s holiday celebration, riding into the firehouse driveway on a makeshift sleigh pulled by one of the Port Reading Fire Department’s engines.
Word on the street, which McCormac planted, was the township’s public works department was repairing Santa’s sleigh, which was to be fixed in plenty of time for him to return to the North Pole. The glow of Rudolph’s red nose was temporarily replaced by the firetruck’s flashing red lights.
“Santa’s very busy this time of year,” McCormac told the children at the holiday celebration. “It’s very hard to get a personal visit from the big man himself, and I don’t mean me. I mean the real big man. Santa Claus is in the house.”
McCormac praised the Port Reading Board of Fire Commissioners and Port Reading First Aid Squad Officers, including Joanne Molnar and Erika Michie, for their outstanding work in bringing the holiday celebration to life.
Port Reading Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony (Photo: ~The Marisa Tufaro Foundation)
“It’s a team effort but every team has to have a captain,” McCormac said. “Every team has to have a leader. Every team has to have somebody who puts together the plan, who has the idea and effectuates it. That, ladies and gentlemen … is Brian Small.”
Brian and Amanda Small will accompany members of The Marisa Tufaro Foundation’s leadership to deliver the toys to BMSCH, which has partnered with the nonprofit since its inception on multiple initiatives.
Established just over two years ago, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has already made a profound impact, donating more than $100,000 and spearheading multiple community initiatives to fulfill its mission of helping pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area. The nonprofit has also donated thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter jackets, baby supplies and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value.
Marisa Tufaro, who would have been a junior 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, she lived a vibrant life that inspired. After her sixth surgery, Marisa developed two life-threatening conditions that necessitated a heart transplant. A postoperative complication developed into a rare form of cancer that riddled her brain and body. Marisa succumbed to her illness Jan. 30, 2017. She was just 13 years old.
Michael Grzankowski sits on Santa’s lap. (Photo: ~The Marisa Tufaro Foundation)
The foundation previously offered to provide assistance to the family of Michael Grzankowski, a young boy from Laurence Harbor diagnosed with the same cardiac defect as Marisa who has already undergone three open-heart surgeries.
Michael’s parents, Mike and Jennifer, and his younger sister, Justina, instead wanted to donate to The Marisa Tufaro Foundation as a way of giving back to others. The Grzankowski family organized a drive of its own, collecting hundreds of toys and delivering them to the Port Reading Fire Department and EMS, helping to stuff its ambulances during the tree lighting celebration.
“For the first time ever doing something,” McCormac said of the tree lighting celebration, “this is terrific, because so many things start slow, they build up over a couple of years and become really successful.”
“This,” he said, however, “is successful the first night out of the box.”