Flo’s annual Chili Cook-Off benefiting the Brain Tumor Center at the JFK Neuroscience Institute in Edison will be held on Sept. 15 at Lory’s Lakeside, 97 Church Lane, North Brunswick.
The event includes live entertainment, the Kidz Zone, an arts and crafts fair, and a Chinese auction.
Doors open at 11 a.m., live music starts at noon, and chili sampling begins at 1 p.m. The awards ceremony will be at 4:30 p.m.
Flo Tempalski was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a grade IV brain tumor on Oct. 31, 2006 and passed away on Oct. 7, 2007 at the age of 51.
Roughly 210,000 people in the United States each year are diagnosed with a primary or mestastatic brain tumor. Of these, approximately 45,000 are diagnosed with primary brain tumors, while 170,000 individuals are diagnosed with metastatic brain tumors. There is no cure. An estimated 35 percent of adults living with a primary malignant brain or central nervous system tumor will live five years or longer. Over 7 percent of all reported primary brain tumors in the United States are among people under the age of 20.
Last year, Flo’s Chili Cook-Off raised over $5,000 in one day to help brain tumor patients pay for MRIs, insurance co-pays, and transportation to chemotherapy treatment. This year’s goal is to raise $15,000 to benefit the Brain Tumor Center’s programs and services for patients and families in New Jersey.