Suppa's in Pine Brook Hosts Genetic Disease Foundation Fundraiser

Suppa's Italian restaurant in Pine Brook was the site of the Genetic Disease Foundation's area ComedyShoppe fundraiser on August 22. 

Founded in 1997, The Genetic Disease Foundation works with Mt. Sinai Hospital to provide early detection and treatment options for more than 6,000 genetically transmitted diseases. 

GDF is run completely by volunteers, which allows all money collected, through benefit events, to go directly toward funding research, providing educational support for patients and families, and preventing the onset of genetic diseases.

The Suppa's event was chaired by a member of GDF's Board of Directors, Andrea Trombino.  More than 100 guests from Montville Township, the Caldwells, and other surrounding communities attended. 

Montville resident, Kathy Lindert was among those attending the evening. 

"It was done very, very well. The whole place was filled," said Lindert, about the Suppa's fundraiser. "It was a great opportunity to learn more about the diseases and the foundation, and to help people. It was an overall great night."

According to Trombino, GDF sponsors a variety of fundraisers annually.  Most are held in New York City and include anywhere from 50 to 500 attendees.

"Since I live in NJ, I wanted to have an event where many of my friends and family could come," she said. "We chose Suppa's because it's a great location for my guests, and it has good food and reasonable prices for fundraising events. We added a comedian for some entertainment [and] raised monies from ticket sales, straight donations, and a silent auction."

Trombino is the mother of two children, who, since 2003, have traveled to Mt. Sinai, in New York City, bi-weekly, to receive treatment for Gaucher disease, type I.  This, often painful, disorder is genetically transmitted.  It is estimated that anywhere from 1 in 450, to 1 in 1,500, people of Ashkenazi descent are carriers.

Gaucher disease is just one of the more than 6,000 genetically transmitted diseases for which GDF provides support.

"We are so grateful that there is a treatment so that they can live normal, healthy lives," she said.

GDF has raised millions of dollars to advance technology and treatment since 1997.  Enhanced carrier testing, greater physician and public awareness programs, research, and improved state-of-the-art medical equipment for Mt. Sinai's Genetic and Genomic Sciences are just a few of the initiatives the foundation's fundraising efforts support.

"This foundation's support has meant a lot to my niece and our family," said Trombino's aunt, Cathi Solomon, of Pine Brook.

From funding equipment, like the $600,000 Illumina NextGen DNS Sequencer, to supporting research that has resulted in the identification of 25 genes that cause genetic diseases, GDF is dedicated to improving genetic testing, treatment, and methods of prevention.