Opportunity Project Raises More Than $278,000 at 10th Anniversary

MILLBURN, NJ – On September 24^th, golfers, donors and sponsors joined together for a day of golf, networking and celebration at the Opportunity Project’s 10th Anniversary Golf Classic at Brooklake Country Club in Florham Park, N.J. This annual event, which raised more than $278,000, supports the first and only free-standing clubhouse model facility in New Jersey providing programming, rehabilitation and empowerment for adults living with brain injury.

With brain injury ranking as the leading cause of death and disability in children and adults to age 44, the Golf Classic helps fund the Opportunity Project Clubhouse and other vocational services for its members, as well as awareness initiatives in the local community and schools that increase knowledge and education on brain injury prevention. The program is a national model for other community-based service programs for those with brain injury. Providing an environment of support, challenges and choices, the organization’s ultimate goal is to help members fully reintegrate back into their family, work and local communities after sustaining a brain injury. The fact that no one is turned away due to a lack of funding is one of the primary factors that sets Opportunity Project apart from others in the brain injury field.

Golfers participated in a 18-hole golf scramble, tournament, on course-contests, live auction and a raffle with unique prizes including dinner at Rao’s, tickets for the U.S. Open, sports tickets, grandstand tickets for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC, and the chance to drive an Aston Martin automobile for a weekend. Steve Adubato, Ph.D., Emmy Award-winning anchor and author of Lessons in Leadership, hosted the evening cocktail reception.

“The $278,000 raised in 2018 marks our most successful event yet, and brings the total raised in the last decade to more than $2 million,” said Marc Berson, Board Chair for Opportunity Project and Chairman of The Fidelco Group. “When we opened our doors in 1994, we could only serve 15 brain injury survivors. Today, the organization is active in the recovery of more than 500 members and their families. Our ability to fulfill our mission is due, in major part, to our generous donors and supporters whose contributions allow us to continue our work in helping our members reclaim their lives and make the impossible, indeed possible.”

The 2018 Opportunity Project Golf Classic was hosted by co-chairs Jacob S. Buurma, Sal Davino, Marshall Freidus, Chris Johnson, Murray Kushner, Jared Levine, Jonathan Sobel, Eileen Sudler and Marc E. Berson. Event sponsors included Century 21 Construction, The Fidelco Group, Fidelity Land Development Corporation, The Freidus Family, Hollister Construction Services, Kushner Real Estate Group, The David Mandelbaum Family, and The Sudler Foundation.

About The Opportunity Project, Inc.
Opportunity Project, Inc. was founded in 1993 by families whose sons had sustained serious brain injuries. While excellent acute medical care and rehabilitation services were available at the time, there was an absence of effective transitional and reintegration services within the community. The goal was to fill this very significant gap. Extensive research resulted in the identification of a nationally recognized program, a Clubhouse model of community support. Membership is open to anyone over 18 with a brain injury regardless of their ability to pay.

Located in Milburn, N.J., Opportunity Project maintains a 14,000 square-foot facility that houses the organizations administrative offices, library, lounge, conference area, kitchen facilities and computer workstations. A work-oriented clubhouse environment is provided where members can work, while building vocational skills, self-esteem and confidence in their ability to accomplish productive activities. For more information, visit www.opportunityproject.org.