Benefit to aid single mom with breast cancer

By Mary Ellen Zangara Special Writer
   HILLSBOROUGH — October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and on Saturday, a benefit is being held to support a local resident.
   The silent auction and concert will be held from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Manville-Hillsborough Elks Lodge on Brooks Boulevard.
   Laurie Parlin is a Hillsborough resident who was diagnosed last spring with triple negative breast cancer. It can be extremely aggressive and more likely to recur and metastasize than other subtypes of breast cancer.
   Ms. Parlin takes care of her 11-year-old son, Stephen, and now cannot work to support them. She is involved in the Hillsborough Little League and is the dispatcher for Kwik Response Towing.
   Ms. Parlin also organized and ran the benefit at Rhythms of the Night on South Main Street for firefighters, police and the surviving child from the Eduardo family, three members of which were killed in an apartment house fire in Manville in 2007. Ms. Parlin did not even know the family but knew many of the firefighters and rescue volunteers and she held the benefit.
   Sara Stockwell, Amy Santopietro, Adam Santopietro, Aaron Santopietro and Renee Bloss — all friends of Ms. Parlin — teamed up with the South Jersey Breast Cancer Coalition to put together a benefit to help the single mom.
   ”Laurie is undergoing a very aggressive treatment of chemotherapy and radiation, leaving her sick most of the time,” said Ms. Stockwell. “This has greatly affected her son. Daily trips to the cancer center for his mother’s injections and many nights in the emergency room have become more of a priority in his life than play dates with friends. Emotionally and financially, the family is in trouble.”
   Just as Ms. Parlin had aided those affected by the fire tragedy, Ms. Stockwell wanted to do the same by helping her friend. Ms. Stockwell said she sent out information about the benefit to all breast cancer support groups in New Jersey, hoping to have some of them attend.
   The benefit will feature New Jersey’s Hit and Run Band and an auction with prizes. The Manville-Hillsborough Elks Lodge 2119 is donating the hall. Tickets, which include dinner, are $25 for adults and $10 for children.
   Ms. Stockwell also is still looking for donations for the auction of gift cards and certificates, gift baskets, monetary donations and other items. All donations are tax-deductible.
   For more information about the benefit, to purchase advance tickets or to make a donation for the auction, call Ms. Stockwell at 908-244-4995.