Foundation keeps victim’s dream alive

Fall duck race
to benefit
cancer research

BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

Fall duck race
to benefit
cancer research
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK — The late Jennifer "Beez" Beisswanger’s dream to save children from suffering is now inspiring others to support vital cancer research.

In life, Jennifer wanted to stop the distress caused by pediatric brain cancer. And despite her death from the disease at the age of 22, Jennifer’s dream will not go unfulfilled, thanks to the Beez Foundation.

"My daughter hoped to one day wipe out cancer," Susan Giardina said. "She thought no one, especially children, should have to suffer from it ever again. And, with love and financial support, we can help make this dream come true."

The Beez Foundation on World Fair Drive in Somerset promotes awareness of pediatric brain cancer in hopes to one day eliminate the disease, which can strike any child as it did Jennifer.

"When she was still a teenager, and away at Penn State, she experienced a grand mal seizure," her mother said.

Following a trip to the hospital, Jennifer’s doctors discovered a cancerous tumor the size of a lemon in her brain, Giardina said.

Over the course of the next three years, Jennifer underwent three brain surgeries and six weeks of radiation to fight the cancer, Giardina said.

"Each time, the tumor would return and would be more aggressive," Giardina said. "Having exhausted all other medical treatments available, she underwent a stem-cell transplant."

Shortly after the transplant, however, Jennifer developed a serious infection and lost her battle.

Over the course of her cancer treatments, Giardina said her daughter witnessed the suffering of many children battling cancer.

"Jennifer’s life was difficult on both a physical and a personal level, but she never let life’s hardships get her down for long," Giardina said. "She always would go out of her way to help other people, trying to make their lives a little easier."

Her daughter was a person who left her own hospital bed to help the ailing elderly and others, Giardina said.

"While she awaited chemotherapy treatments, she volunteered at the local hospital to work with the pediatric dialysis patients," Giardina said. "This was the essence of Jennifer."

In honor of Jennifer’s giving spirit, her parents organized the Beez Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness and funding for pediatric brain cancer research.

Giardina and her husband, Joseph, will have a table at the Moonlight Flea Market at Davidson Mill Village on Route 130 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on July 23.

They will promote ticket sales for their annual Duck Race, an event that helps to raise funds for pediatric brain cancer research and related programs for patients in New Jersey and New York hospitals.

The race takes place during the Raritan River Festival in New Brunswick.

This year, members of the Beez Foundation will launch the race at 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 19.

"Thousands of adorable little yellow rubber ducks will be dropped into the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and race past our pavilion to the finish line, with the first three ducks winning prizes," Giardina said.

One winner will receive a grand prize of a Caribbean cruise for two.

Each duck costs $5 and can be purchased at the Moonlight Flea Market or at the Raritan River Festival in September.

"The foundation annually identifies and targets key areas in the field of children’s brain cancer research and patient services that are presently underfunded to donate the proceeds from the race to," Giardina said.

Doctors from the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick; Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, N.Y.; and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, New Brunswick, submit annual requests for funding of specific projects, Giardina said.

Volunteers run the foundation and all of its events, Giardina said, in order to contribute 100 percent of the proceeds to support research.

The foundation’s first Duck Race netted almost $40,000 that allowed the foundation to present an Awards Gala in February at The Grand Marquis in Old Bridge.

During the event, the foundation pre­sented four research grants.

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center received $27,600 for research on intensive chemotherapy and intrathecal radio-immuno therapy for young children with malignant brain tumors.

Bimbo’s Buddies Inc. received $5,000 to help defray costs for completion of an Ann Sheridan book for pediatric cancer patients about a dog that shares his feel­ings about undergoing cancer treatments.

The Cancer Institute of New Jersey received $5,000 for its new resource and learning center, and Double "H" Hole in the Woods Ranch, Lake Luzerne, N.Y., received $2,400 to enable two children af­flicted with malignant brain tumors to at­tend the camp for critically ill children.

Giardina said her daughter’s life and experiences continue to heighten aware­ness of pediatric brain cancer, "even among the people she never had the plea­sure of meeting."

"It is our hope that every February we will be able to make grants from the money we raise doing fund-raisers," Giar­dina said. "It is our hope that no other parent will have to experience the death of their child from this disease."