As a way of giving back to the Rutgers University baseball program, whose roster features several players that have supported our nonprofit, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation for the second consecutive year will match the Scarlet Knights’ current fundraising efforts with a donation of up to $5,000 to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital’s child life program.
Rutgers’ series finale against Big Ten Conference opponent Indiana at Bainton Field on April 26 will culminate the Scarlet Knights’ months-long fundraiser for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s Vs. Cancer program.
A portion of Rutgers’ fundraising proceeds will support the pediatric oncology unit at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, while the rest will help fight pediatric cancer.
The Scarlet Knights are accepting donations online with a fundraising goal of $10,000. Rutgers has been involved with Vs. Cancer since 2013 and raised more than $51,000 through the years.
“We are excited to once again partner with Vs. Cancer and The Marisa Tufaro Foundation to help in the fight against childhood cancer,” Rutgers University head coach Steve Owens said in a press release. “I cannot think of a more important cause to help with and we are hopeful that many friends and families of our players will rally and support the team’s effort to reach the goal.”
Junior lefthander Harry Rutkowski, a Woodbridge High School graduate who Major League scouts project to be a Top 10 round selection in the 2020 MLB First-Year Player Draft, has long honored Marisa by wearing a commemorative bracelet on his right wrist in her honor.
Three years ago, Rutkowski and former Perth Amboy High School star Chris Brito, who is now Rutgers’ starting first baseman, participated in a Greater Middlesex Conference charity all-star baseball doubleheader that raised money for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation, whose mission is to help pediatric patients and other children in need throughout the greater Middlesex County area.
Since its inception on July 30, 2017, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation has already donated more than $130,000 to fulfill its mission. The nonprofit has also donated thousands of toys, nonperishable food items, baby supplies, winter coats and other items upon which it has placed no monetary value. In addition, the foundation provides scholarship dollars to Middlesex County high school students.
Through their fundraising efforts, Rutgers baseball players continue to heighten awareness about pediatric cancer, which claims the lives of more children in the United States than any other disease.
The funds The Marisa Tufaro Foundation matches for Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital’s child life program will support instruction and supplies for the hospital’s art therapy program.
Art therapy provides therapeutic, healing benefits for patients. Art therapy can help patients open up and share their thoughts, feelings and perceptions about their hospitalization or illness through the creative process. Opening up through art can alleviate stress, anxiety, emotional distress and potentially minimize pain. Art therapy can also help distract patients who are undergoing medical treatments or infusions.
“Expanding our art therapy program adds another dimension to the service we can provide to support our children, especially with patients who have acute psychological needs,” said Barbara Romito, Director of Child Life at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital. “Programs like art therapy offer children ways to express themselves so they can cope with their hospital experience.”
Marisa, 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 following a valiant battle on Jan. 30, 2017.
“Marisa endured many stays in the hospital and art therapists played a major role in helping her cope and develop a passion for art,” said her father, Greg, who is a sports writer for USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey. “We are thankful to have the opportunity to honor Marisa’s memory by supporting programs that will assist thousands of children and families who receive treatment at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital each year.
“We are also eternally grateful to Coach Owens and the entire Rutgers University baseball program for allowing the nonprofit established in Marisa’s loving memory to partner with the Scarlet Knights to assist pediatric patients and their families.”
An exceptional artist who excelled at drawing, Marisa took summer classes at Rutgers University’s Zimmerli Art Museum, where her work was once showcased in a gallery and where she once received a scholarship to attend a summer art camp. Marisa’s ambition was to attend an arts college, and while God’s plan didn’t allow her to make it to one, her work did. A piece Marisa constructed with a New York City School of Visual Arts graduate student during an art therapy session in the hospital was displayed at the 2017 “Your Turn” exhibit at the college’s Flatiron Gallery in Manhattan.
Several former Rutgers baseball players and coaches, including Rutgers Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Doug Alongi and former assistant coach Mike Garlatti, now the northeast scouting director for the Colorado Rockies, have also supported The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
Alongi spearheaded a wildly successful gift card drive for pediatric patients in Marisa’s loving memory and conducted a separate online fundraiser that generated nearly $2,500 for The Marisa Tufaro Foundation.
The Teamwork Unlimited Foundation, which Garlatti and his wife Trisha established, has partnered with The Marisa Tufaro Foundation on multiple initiatives, including treating special Olympics athletes from the Raritan Bay Area YMCA to a day at TD Bank Ballpark for a Somerset Patriots game experience and providing medical alert bracelets for pediatric patients and children with autism.
The Marisa Tufaro Foundation believes paying forward the generosity of current and former Rutgers baseball players, including senior lefthander Eric Reardon of North Brunswick, who, too, has supported our nonprofit, with a matching donation to Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital is a fitting way to give back.
Marisa was under the loving care for her entire life of Joseph Gaffney, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Division Chief, Pediatric Cardiology at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, thus the Tufaro family has a special connection with Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital.
Last month, The Marisa Tufaro Foundation partnered with Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, providing funds for a part-time healthcare social worker to assist families of pediatric patients under the care of the school’s Department of Pediatrics’ Division of Pediatric Cardiology.
Kimberly Roy-Canning, director of the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation’s Northeast region, praised the Rutgers University baseball program for its fundraising efforts.
“The children and families we serve rely heavily on the support of our Vs. Cancer fundraising teams,” she said. “We applaud the efforts and generous spirit of the Rutgers University Baseball team. On behalf of our foundation, and the 28,000 children and teens currently battling a brain tumor, thank you. With the support of this incredible team, we’re fighting for healthier, happier futures for these kids.”
Former University of North Carolina baseball player Chase Jones, who is a pediatric brain cancer survivor, started Vs. Cancer, which empowers any sports team, any athlete or any community to help kids with cancer.
In 2016 the Vs. Cancer Foundation merged with the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation and now is a signature fundraising campaign of the nonprofit.
Since 1991, the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation has funded and partnered with organizations to fund more than $44 million in scientific discovery to increase survivorship, improve quality of life, and ultimately eliminate pediatric brain tumors.
The Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation also provides emotional, informational, and logistical support to help families navigate their journey.
For more information, please visit http://www.curethekids.org/about-us/mission/