Hospital's Day Of Gold Held In Bergen Girl's Memory

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Thirty schools throughout the county will help remember a little girl who died five years ago after a battle with cancer.

Josephine Elle Hartung-Rispoli died in 2011 after a 13-month battle with a rare, malignant brain tumor. Since her death, her family has honored her memory through various initiatives, including the creation of Josephine's Garden and a research lab named in her honor at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children's Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center.

More than 30 schools are participating in the Day of Gold at HUMC. Donations from the day fund the lab and garden, which is a grassroots initiative driven by Hartung-Rispoli's mother.

The garden, located on the fifth floor of the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, is reserved for use by pediatric patients and their families. It includes a whimsical fountain of frogs, overlapping circles of orange, blue and brown to represent fire, water and earth – the elements of life — several planting beds and hand-drawn butterflies and flowers, which was artwork taken directly from Josephine’s kindergarten book.

The lab opened in 2015. It is the only one of its kind in 2015. Doctors and researchers there try to find new therapies to treat children with cancer and other diseases.

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com. Get Patch breaking news alerts sent right to your phone with our new app. Download here.

Photo: A sign at Josephine's Garden at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital./Courtesy of Hackensack University Medical Center.