By JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer
NORTH BRUNSWICK – Members of The Hugs for Brady Foundation expressed gratitude to the community of North Brunswick for its support in the fight against pediatric cancer.
Brady Wells, the son of Michael and Sherrie Wells of South Brunswick, passed away in 2010 at 23 months old from non-differentiated acute leukemia, which he was diagnosed with at the age of 13 months. The Wells’ established Hugs for Brady in 2009.
On Jan. 17, Sherrie Wells and Jeff Schneir, committee chairperson for the inaugural Hugs for Brady Lights Show that was held from Nov. 25-Dec. 30, 2016, at the DeVry University campus in North Brunswick, presented the North Brunswick Township Council with a plaque of recognition, thanking the township and the North Brunswick Police Department “for creating awareness that kids get cancer, too.”
“The Hugs for Brady Foundation does a tremendous job overall with fundraising for pediatric juvenile cancer, and they really are an asset to our area,” Councilman Carlo Socio said.
The Hugs for Brady Foundation will holds its 2017 winter gala, The Many Faces of Hugs for Brady, from 5:30-11 p.m. on March 4 at The Palace at Somerset Park, 333 Davidson Ave., Somerset.
The Domotor family will receive the Ellen Gambatese Pediatric Cancer Volunteer of the Year award. Steve Kalafer, chairman of the Somerset Patriots, will be presented with the Hugs for Brady Foundation Pediatric Cancer Humanitarian of the Year award. The Dr. Randy Siegel Pediatric Cancer Medical Humanitarian of the Year award will be bestowed upon Dr. Richard Drachtman, interim chief of pediatric hematology/oncology at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey (RCINJ), as will the Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Program at RCINJ and The Inpatient Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Unit and Child Life Program at The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.
Individual tickets are $195, or $1,950 for a table of 12. Scholarship, advertising and silent auction donation opportunities are also available.
“When you go to a gala, you don’t expect to cry. You don’t expect to feel emotions. And the reality is, is that juvenile cancer is real,” Socio said.
For more information, call 732-659-1159 or visit www.hugsforbrady.org.
Contact Jennifer Amato at [email protected].