By Rich Fisher, Sports Editor
Pat Jenkins is a cancer survivor.
Sadly, Nicholas Colleluori is not.
But before he passed away, Colleluori started something that Jenkins wants to see through to its fulfillment, and he is employing the aid of the South Brunswick High boys lacrosse program.
Jenkins is currently an assistant coach for the Vikings. While playing for SBHS he earned Greater Middlesex Conference Player of the Year honors in 2004 before going off to play at Cabrini College.
At Cabrini, Jenkins was diagnosed with cancer but beat it back and graduated last fall. During his fight, he learned of a charity called The HEADstrong Foundation, which was started by Colleluori.
A 2004 graduate of Ridley High in Pennsylvania, Colleluori was the same age as Jenkins and was diagnosed with blood cancer his sophomore year at Hofstra University. He battled courageously but lost the fight 14 months later.
During the interim, Colleluori founded HEADstrong Foundation, which is now dedicated to his life. The foundation’s mission is to generate funds for cancer research, distribute grants and assistance to survivors of blood cancer, provide financial assistance to families that are experiencing the hardships of having a sick family member, and provide scholarships and grants for students with ambitions of entering the medical field.
As a survivor and a lacrosse player, Jenkins was obviously drawn to the foundation.
”He came up to me before the season and said he had an idea,” Viking coach Mark Ziminski said. “I thought it sounded great after he gave me the information. Pat presented it to our booster club and, lo and behold, people are donating like crazy.”
Indeed they are Jenkins’ idea was to ask the parents to purchase lime green shoelaces with the HEADstrong logo on them, for $10. The Vikings would then wear them in each game to show their support.
According to Mike Fingerhut, who heads the booster club, a family who wishes to remain anonymous donated $700 to cover the cost for all the laces, while two other families donated $100 apiece. The booster club added a $100 contribution, bringing the total to over $1,000.
Fundraising is still going on, but Jenkins is thrilled with the early response.
”When Mike told me about the initial donation from the booster club I was shocked,” Jenkins said. “I expected a moderate donation from the parents I spoke to, but not nearly as much as they came up with.
”That says a lot about our program’s parents. Because of today’s economic climate, with so many families just trying to get by, the generosity that we have seen makes me and the foundation that much more grateful.”
Jenkins finds a personal satisfaction in these philanthropic gestures, but says he’s not the only one. He points out that most people are affected by the disease, either by having it or knowing someone who is fighting it.
”To put it bluntly, if you haven’t experienced it yet, you will,” Jenkins said. “It is because of this that we need everyone’s help to fight it.
”What a lot of people don’t understand is that though the physical effects of cancer may be gone, the aftereffects are present for years. Whether that be hospital bills in particular or even something as small as the hundreds of tolls you pay going back and forth for treatments. They all add up and HEADstrong helps families in almost every aspect.”
Jenkins says when he coaches games, he gets caught up in the action, but thinks that every once in a while he’ll look at those lime green laces and feel some quiet satisfaction.
”I will no doubt be incredibly proud our players are doing something proactive to help fight this disease,” Jenkins said. “It seems so insignificant, but our hope is a person sees the laces and does some research about HEADstrong and either gives a donation or passes the message along.
”One day, when families no longer have to worry about whether or not their child will contract some form of cancer, every member of our program and the people who so generously contributed can look back and say ‘I did something about it.’”
And they will have made sure Nicholas Colleluori did not die in vain.

