Team Tavares Keeps the 'Fun' in Fundraising by Holding Yardsale Oct. 24-25 in River Edge for Mother with Stage 3 Cancer

Imagine finding out you have stage 3 pancreatic cancer.

After the shock of the diagnosis, followed by the endless hours of research and doctor’s appointments to identify the best course of treatment, imagine the shock of finding out how much it costs to fight for your life.

Unfortunately, the Taveras family knew all too well the costs associated with fighting against cancer, as prior to finding out that Katherine, wife and mom of the family, had stage 3 cancer, they fought a successful battle against leukemia with their son.

Instead of dwelling on the negative, Katherine embraced an attitude summed up by the Muhammad Ali quote “Don’t count the days, make the days count!” and asked her friends to promise her that they would “not to let her lose her sense of humor during her battle.” So her friends set out to do just that and have tried to keep the “fun” while raising money to help the family with their fight against pancreatic cancer.

Her friends call themselves Team Taveras (www.teamtaveras.weebly.com) and are holding various fundraising events. The team’s upcoming event is a massive yard sale set for Oct. 24-25 (rain date Oct. 26) from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Lafayette Ave in River Edge.

The local community, as well as families and business from surrounding towns stretching as far as north as Mahwah, west as Wyckoff, and east of Fort Lee, have all donated items to be sold at the yard sale with the proceeds to benefit the Taveras family.

Also joining in on the fun is the pastor of Saint Peter the Apostle, along with multiple families in town who have all cleared out space for donations to be stored. The Josephson family out of Emerson, a friend of a Team Taveras member donated their truck to pick up donations from far and wide and Frank Placa the owner of Amagia AV has donated a truck and manpower to help transport stored donations to the yard sale site.

Showing their support for the Taveras children include the RiverDell High School’s Teens Against Cancer and RiverDell’s Football Booster clubs and the confirmation candidates from Saint Peter the Apostle.

The Teens Against Cancer club, led by its advisor Lucy Trotter, has been raising awareness for pancreatic cancer by selling purple bracelets inscribed with the Muhammad Ali quote, advertising the yard sale and is taking full responsibly for the signage for the sale. The RiverDell Booster club efforts, championed by Sue Bruni, include assisting with seeking donations for the sale and working at the sale. Confirmation candidates will be helping with the sorting and pricing of donations and working at the sale.

So while all involved understand the seriousness of the situation, all embrace Katherine’s motto of making each day count while being sure to laugh along the way.

The Team Taveras webpage provides additional information about the activities to assist the family. A online donation page provides additional information about the family’s fights against cancer. If you wish to make a financial donation directly to the family, Chase Bank in River Edge has donated a fee free account to the Taveras family.

Please send those donations to:

Chase Bank

Sophie Khaddage, Branch Manager

Attn: Team Taveras

686 Kinderkamack Road

River Edge, NJ 07661