Amy Batista, Special Writer
MONROE — The Monroe Township Recreation Department hosted its First Annual Make-A-Wish Dodgeball Tournament Dec. 29.
Around 200 participants took part including children, adults, local fire department, local first aid, the Monroe Democratic Organization, the local softball association and many other local organizations.
The purpose of the tournament was to raise money to help the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey and its wish children, some of whom are even in the tournament participants’ own families, departments, or classmates.
The idea was to pay it forward, as some would say, and what better way to do that than through a friendly game of dodgeball with family and friends while supporting a greater cause?
The Monroe Recreation Department raised $6,340 during the dodgeball tournament through local sponsorships of local businesses, t-shirts sold during the tournament and a tournament fee.
However, it didn’t stop there. The department participated in the Adopt-A-Wish Program to fulfill a wish for one wish child. It adopted nine-year-old Daniel who’s wish is for a play set.
Since he is a wish child, Daniel’s last name is being concealed by the foundation.
”The Adopt-A-Wish Program enables you, your family, your business, or organization to proudly sponsor a child’s wish and make his or her dream come true. Wish children endure the stress of prolonged medical treatment as well as pain and fear of their illness.
”Their siblings are sidelined by the necessity to focus on treatment for the sick child and their parents face the stress of hiding their own heartbreak in order to support the family,” according to the Make-A-Wish New Jersey website, nj.wish.org.
Divisions were broken down into middle school (seventh and eighth graders), high school, collegiate (18 – 24 year olds), and adults (24 and above).Teams consisted of six to 10 players. A total of 15 teams were formed, nine of them being in the adult division.
In the adult division, the winning team name was Off Constantly, made up of local college students and some of their dads. The second place team went to some local residents and family team captain was Steve Martini. Third place was a tie between the local Monroe Township Volunteer District 1 and the Democratic Organization team.
The first place adult team got shirts that had “Champions” written on the back while the other three teams received just t-shirts. A plaque is also in the process of being made to lodge the winners on it by year at the Monroe Recreation Department. Right now, the average wish cost is $8,288.
”Each year, close to 500 children in the state of New Jersey experience the magic and power of a wish. It is through the incredible generosity of our contributors, the dedication of our volunteers and the tireless support of our staff that each of these wishes becomes a reality,” reads the website.
”We hadn’t even moved into our new home on Perrineville Road when the Monroe Township Community Center contacted us expressing their interest in organizing this event,” said Tom Weatherall, president and CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey. “To see all the people who worked to coordinate this event and all the participants, of all ages, who came out to help raise money and awareness, I really cannot think of a warmer welcome.”
Al Magliaro, a program supervisor at Monroe Township Recreation Department, organized the tournament.
”I wanted to make the community aware of how lucky they are and realize what other people go through when I was organizing this event,” Mr. Magliaro said. He created fliers and handed them out in Monroe schools. The information on the flier was also posted on the community center’s Facebook page and website, www.monroerec.com. However, many people seemed to hear about the event through word of mouth.
Daniel Fortunata of Monroe and a wish kid joined his friends during the middle school tournament and played on team two.
Daniel had Pre B Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and he had a wish grant to meet Drake and Josh from the Nickelodeon show of the same name.
”We were very touched by the generosity and kindness of Make-a-Wish Foundation that we formed Daniel’s Dream Team and have been doing Walk for Wishes ever since,” said Daniel’s mother, Susanna Fortunata of Monroe. “We were at the groundbreaking ceremony and are very happy the castle is in our town.”
”I found out about the dodgeball tournament going on in our recreation center and immediately tried to form a team,” Ms. Fortunata said. When Carla (who?) told us about it we were very happy that our town was going to be involved with fundraising for the Foundation, and Daniel decided to join the team she was forming. Soon she had a full team and the name Monroe Toro’s (bulls in Spanish) came to be.”
Also on team two was Christian Volpe of Monroe, whose younger brother, Jonathan Volpe, a wish kid, was there to watch him play dodgeball, wishing he could also play in the tournament.
”I saw the flier first then I saw it posted on the Monroe Recreation Facebook page,” Ms. Volpe said. Jonathan had Pre B Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma and had a wish grant to go to Give Kids The World at Disney World.
”I asked Christian if he was interested in playing and we tried to get a few friends together. Within days we were able to get a team together.”
Later that evening, the adult teams came out to show their support.
”I participated in the tournament because I wanted to be able to give back to an organization that helped one of my friends. Also, I truly believe Make-a-Wish is one of the best foundations out there, and the wishes they grant and the amount of people they help are remarkable.”
”When I first heard about the tournament I didn’t know exactly which organization the tournament was benefiting, so I was happy to find out the tournament was for the Make-a-Wish foundation because Make-a-Wish made a great impact in the life of one of my best friends and his family when it granted a wish for Ryan Walp,” said Anthony Modugno, of Monroe Township, and from the winning team Off Constantly.
”As for the tournament, everyone was happy to just be there to benefit an excellent cause, and although we went out there to win and enjoyed winning, the atmosphere was more of a fun and relaxed one rather than a competitive one. Everyone had fun, including all of the players and the fans, so I expect this tournament to grow in size next year and raise even more money. I look forward to participating again next year, as our team will definitely be back out to defend our title and help benefit Make-a-Wish,” Mr. Modugno said.
”The Make-A-Wish Foundation is an organization that is special to our fire house for two reasons,” said Chief Lonnie Pipero of Monroe Fire District 1. “Two of our members have sons who were ill and the services the Make-A-Wish Foundation provided were terrific. We had the opportunity to see firsthand how their work positively impacts the lives of kids and their families dealing with serious illnesses.”
”The foundation is considered a member of our Monroe community and we, as a volunteer department, believe strongly in helping our community in any way possible,” Chief Pipero said.
”We had a lot of fun, and heard that it was very successful,” said Rob Drako, operations coordinator of Monroe Township First Aid and player from the Monroe EMS team. “We would definitely do it again.”
”It was a great night of fun,” Gregg Johanesson, head of the table tennis association and member of the recreation advisory committee, who put down his paddle to play for the evening. “All for a good foundation.”
The Democratic Organization tied for third place with the Monroe Township Volunteer Fire Company in the adult category.
”To be able to stage an event that combined community building and community giving is a perfect use of the newly expanded Monroe Township Community Center,” said Councilwoman Leslie Koppel and organizer of the Democratic Organization dodgeball team.
”The event went really well. It was the first year and a growing step,” Mr. Magliaro said.
