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SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Annual event raises money, blood

By Mary Brienza, Special Writer
   Several hundred people came out to raise awareness for pediatric cancer on Sunday during the third annual Hugs for Brady Family Fun Day.
   The event took place in front of the Confectionately Yours restaurant on Route 27, and raised money for the Hugs for Brady Foundation as well as took donations of blood from attendees.
   Event organizer Mary Gondek said the goals for the day’s blood collection had been exceeded by 2 p.m.
   During the event, balloons were released by attendees after Ms. Gondek, who is also the owner of Confectionately Yours and member of the Hugs for Brady Board of Directors, gave a brief speech in honor of the lives lost to pediatric cancer and in memory of South Brunswick resident Brandon Dominguez, who recently lost his battle with cancer.
   The brightly colored collection of balloons flew out of sight while Eric Clapton’s song “Tears in Heaven” was played.
   The event, which brings the community together, has expanded and branched out since its inception three years ago, Ms. Gondek said.
   Ms. Gondek said the moral compass of the Hugs for Brady Foundation is: give blood, give platelets, give time, and give money.
   Hugs for Brady was founded in 2010 by Sherri and Mike Wells to raise awareness and money to cure pediatric cancer after their son Brady was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Brady lost his battle with leukemia in 2010, shortly before the first annual Hugs for Brady Family Fun Day was organized by the owners of Confectionately Yours, Ms. Wells said.
   She said the organization wants people to be aware that children are battling cancer and going through the same things adults go through when battling the disease.
   ”There is no cure at this moment,” Ms. Wells said.
   The purpose of the annual event is to raise awareness of pediatric cancer, and the most important part of the event is the blood drive because every pint of blood saves three people and that there are six blood drives a year at the restaurant, Ms. Gondek said.
   ”My whole family is involved in this,” Ms. Gondek said.
   She said the foundation raises a lot of money for research, because without research, “we have nothing.”
   ”Without the people you have nothing,” Jessica Gondek, the granddaughter of Mary Gondek, said.
   Jessica said 20 percent of Sunday’s sales at Confectionately Yours went towards the fund.
   Franklin Park resident Diana Hernandez, 29, attended the event with her 2-year-old daughter Ava, because she knows Mike Wells, Sherri Wells, and the Gondek family.
   She said her favorite part of these types of events is, “everybody getting together and supporting each other.”
   Rohit Nalmada, 16, of South Brunswick, who was a volunteer at the event, said that one of the reasons he volunteered was because one of his classmate’s brothers passed away from brain cancer.
   ”(I) like seeing everyone having fun, and having people get out of their house to support a cause like this,” he said.
   Every day there are 36 children diagnosed with cancer in the United States, according to the Hugs for Brady website.