CHRIS KELLY staff Anastasiya Yakovleva, 10, of Long Branch, has her face painted at the third annual Wave of Hope Carnival at the Long Branch Middle School on June 6. LONG BRANCH – The city’s public school system hosted its third annual Wave of Hope carnival June 6 to benefit pediatric programs at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.
The event was held at the Long Branch Middle School and featured a memorial walk and a carnival with food, rides and games.
The school district was able to present the Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) with a $27,000 check last year, after it hosted the 2007 Wave of Hope Walk for Cancer.
The annual fundraising event was first started by the schools in 2006 and was held in honor of Karen Gizzi, a guidance counselor in the district and patient at the Cancer Institute, who died of cancer in 2005.
The event has continued with the goal of raising awareness about the disease that took Gizzi’s life, according to a press release from the Long Branch school district.
Joseph M. Ferraina, superintendent of schools, said in the release that Gizzi continues to serve as an inspiration to the Long Branch community.
“Even though Karen is no longer with us, it is evident the kind of impact she had on our students and their families, for it is they who come out to this event year after year committed to making a difference in the fight against cancer,” Ferraina said.
The Cancer Institute of New Jersey, part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, and is dedicated to improving the prevention, detection, treatment and care of patients with cancer, according to information from CINJ.