Thank you for considering making an online monetary donation in support of the Marisa Tufaro Classic toy drive, which will benefit children in need this holiday season who Hands of Hope for the Community and Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center serve.
A season-opening bowling tournament involving 40 boys and girls high school teams, the Marisa Tufaro Classic will be held at Majestic Lanes in Woodbridge on December 6 at 9 a.m.
Proceeds from the event, at which bowlers, their coaches and spectators are invited to donate new and unwrapped toys, will benefit The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, which assists pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
Toys donated to the medical center will meet the needs of pediatric inpatients and visitors to the hospital’s Pediatric Emergency Department, who can benefit at any time from a diversion to help cope with the anxiety and pain that can accompany treatments, medical procedures, and extended admissions.
Toys donated to Hands of Hope for the Community will be distributed as holiday presents to Middlesex County children in need during an event in late December at Saint James Episcopal Church in Edison.
Woodbridge head coach Amanda Small founded the wildly successful bowling tournament with support from her high school and school district. The Marisa Tufaro Classic generated thousands of toys for pediatric patients and children in need over its first four years.
Since its inception in 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has donated more than $400,000 to fulfill its mission.
The nonprofit has also donated thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, winter jackets, baby supplies, school supplies, children’s books and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value.
In addition, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has awarded $36,500 in academic scholarships to 50 Middlesex County high school seniors and sent 31 elementary and middle school students to attend a weeklong summer art camp at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Museum.
Born with a complex cardiac defect, Marisa Tufaro survived six open-heart surgeries and a heart transplant before succumbing in 2017 to a rare form of cancer following a valiant battle. She was just 13 years old.
Despite being hospitalized for more than two years and maintaining hundreds of doctors’ appointments, Marisa Tufaro was an Edison Township Public Schools honor roll student involved in myriad extracurricular activities who lived a vibrant life that inspired.
Thank you for your generosity and may your kindness be exponentially returned.