Liz Matticoli, a recently graduated South Brunswick High School senior who has given back to the school-community through her volunteerism, has been named a Marisa Tufaro Foundation Greater Middlesex Conference Student-Athlete Scholarship recipient.
Inspired by her courageous mother, who has endured a years-long battle with cancer, Matticoli will attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts with the career goal of being able to help save the lives of others as a biomedical engineer.
A gifted athlete who lettered in basketball and trained with the cross country team, Matticoli was among the best javelin throwers and shot putters in the state, reaching the prestigious indoor Meet of Champions earlier this year in the shot and qualifying for the outdoor Group IV meet as a junior in the javelin.
“(Liz) is an extraordinary and accomplished young person who has demonstrated perseverance, discipline and wonderful social skills,” according to one of Matticoli’s teachers.
“Additionally, (Liz) has an excellent work ethic and keen interest in succeeding. She is organized, efficient (and) dedicated. These characteristics are enhanced by her positive attitude showing others how to tackle any challenge. Above all else, she is a sincere and happy young person interested in helping others as demonstrated through her volunteer work.”
Matticoli’s community service included volunteering for events at township elementary schools, the South Brunswick Public Library and South Brunswick High School.
In addition to serving as a camp counselor for children ages 8 through 13 through South Brunswick Recreation’s track and field and basketball programs, Matticoli also volunteered during the township’s National Night Out and at the township’s American Legion post.
“She’s a great kid who motivated some of the younger kids with her work ethic and demeanor,” South Brunswick head track and field coach Stefan Moorhead said.
In addition to being a major contributor to South Brunswick’s track and field dynasty during the spring and winter seasons, Matticoli was also an exceptional student, maintaining a 3.67 grade-point average while balancing multiple extracurricular activities.
She helped South Brunswick claim its 14th consecutive outdoor track and field conference championship in 2019, and helped the school win its sixth straight indoor track and field league title earlier this year.
“She was definitely a big part of our success,” Moorhead said. “She was achieving great things academically, too.”
During her senior year, Matticoli opted to forgo basketball in favor of competing with South Brunswick’s winter track and field program.
“This year she wanted to concentrate on track,” Moorhead said. “Selfishly, I was really happy that she did make that decision. She’s a kid who never missed practice. She’s a track junkie. She always wanted to be around (the program) and get better.”
Another of Matticoli’s coaches used the words “responsible, hard-working, persistent and innovative” as adjectives to describe the gifted student-athlete.
“She holds herself to a high set of standards and has worked hard to achieve a commendable grade point average,” the coach said. “Her strengths not only lie within the realm of academia, but she also has a warm, mature, and caring personality.”
The coach called Liz, “a well-rounded individual who is both respected and liked by people around her.”
ABOUT THE MARISA TUFARO FOUNDATION
The tax-exempt nonprofit was established in loving memory of Marisa, who passed away at the age of 13 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 24 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.
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).
- 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.
- 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 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 a second consecutive year 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.
- Supported instruction and supplies for an art therapy program at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital for a third consecutive year.
- 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 six summer art camp scholarships to Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum for Middlesex County elementary and middle school students.
- Provided college scholarship dollars to 10 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.
- 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 21st 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.
- Provided 7 summer art camp scholarships to Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum for Middlesex County elementary and middle school students.
- Provided college scholarship dollars to 7 high school students whose classroom performance and extracurricular involvement reflected Marisa’s educational success and whose charitable endeavors aligned with our foundation’s mission.
- 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.
- Provided James Monroe Elementary School students with food items to fill a hundred “Weekend Snack Bags” for pediatric patients’ families.
- 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.