Tomorrows Children's Fund Launches 'Start a Movement' Campaign, Invites Schools to Participate

Tomorrows Children’s Fund (TCF) has launched its first-ever Start a Movement (SAM) program and is inviting schools in the area to participate in a special opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of local cancer patients.

TCF a nonprofit organization that provides a wide range of support services to children and their families facing cancer and life-threatening blood disorders. TCF is also dedicated to supporting patients and their families from Bergen, Hudson and surrounding counties, and hopes to raise awareness of its commitment to local communities by kicking off its first annual SAM competition.

SAM organizers at TCF are asking teachers, coaches, club moderators, students and parents to get involved by helping to raise funds in new and exciting ways to support the many children from our own neighborhoods who are struggling with these diseases. Students earn community service hours while helping patients and gaining recognition for their school.

The school that is judged to have created the best event in support of TCF by May 2015 will be presented with the “Michael’s Journey for a Cure Award” in honor of Michael Romano, a Bayonne resident who was diagnosed at age 4 1/2 with Stage 4 neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nerve cells. Doctors gave him about a year to live, but through his strong will, determination and courage, along with numerous treatments and therapies, he lived for seven years. His battle ended in 2005. Funds raised by the SAM initiative will provide other children, and their families, currently in treatment with some sunshine, hope and vital support.

The “Michael’s Journey” trophy will be engraved with the name of the winning school and the year, and will remain in that school’s trophy case until awarded to the next winning school the following year. Judging criteria will include total dollars raised, originality, communication to the public of TCF’s mission and overall school participation.

Events can be as simple as staging a dress-down day, a dance or a sports tournament. Or, it can be more ambitious, perhaps an “Event of the Month” program throughout the school year. Schools are urged to be creative and include the incredible young people in each school to come up with fun ideas to distinguish each school. SAM is a rewarding way for students to earn community service hours while contributing to a meaningful local cause.

TCF’s mission is to comfort and provide essential services to help these families get through the ravages of cancer and serious blood disorders, as it has for over the course of 30+ years for more than 6,000 patients and families in New Jersey. Based at the Hackensack University Medical Center, TCF uses its funds to help pay for necessities for its families, such as supermarket gift cards, mortgage and utility bills, transportation to and from treatment and much more. Each participating school can make a real difference for the many families TCF supports every day.

The deadline for schools to apply to be part of SAM is Dec. 1, 2014. To find out more about TCF and how your school can participate in Start a Movement, contact: Sue Garbe at sgarbe@tcfkid.org or 551-996-5504, or go to www.tcfkid.org.