Current Events - Our Blog
"CELEBRATION OF LIFE" MODELS WOWED THE CROWD !
"Celebration of Life", our largest and most meaningful fund raiser of the year, took place Thursday night, September 18th at the Sheraton in Eatontown. Over 300 people ate great food provided by local area restaurants and specialty shops, drank some delicious wines, indulged in some scrumptious desserts – all while listening to music provided by Richie of Music Express. Everyone was anxiously awaiting the “show” where 24 cancer survivors/turned models strutted their stuff on the beautifully decorated runway (seen below)!
At about 8:30, Gary Weiner, Board Chair of The Wellness Community, kicked off the evening by giving everyone a brief history of how far we have come in such a short time.
Then Ilene Winters, Executive Director of The Wellness Community asked everyone to stand up in support of the over 11 million people now living THROUGH cancer! She then introduced our Special Honoree of the evening, Bonnie Levin, who described her journey through cancer survivorship and her association with The Wellness Community.
And then the show began! Each model walked, danced, boogied, skipped or funked down the runway to the song of their choice. There were many fun – and surprising - moments!
Al Lehrer grabs Ellyn Feldman for an impromptu dance!
Marcie Abramowitz swings her bra in celebration!
Our MC’s for the evening were members of the Oncology field:
- Dr. Barbara Rabinowitz
- Dr. David Sharon
- Dr. Nicholas Taylor
- Dr. Christina Walsh
They each read statements from the models describing what helped get them through their cancer experience. It was both moving and uplifting at the same time. The models then all returned to the runway together for a curtain call to the tune of “Just Stand Up” which was written for “Stand Up To Cancer”.
This is a picture of all of our beautiful models, with our honoree Bonnie Levin
This event just keeps getting bigger and better. If you are a cancer survivor (man or woman) interested in modeling next year, please be in touch.
And, otherwise, look for the third annual "Celebration of Life" on October 15, 2009!
To view the slideshow go to: www.timothyharrisphotography.com and click on “SLIDESHOW” at the top of the page. If you have any questions or comments feel free to send me an email.
MOLLYDOOKER WINE RELEASE EVENT RAISES OVER $7,000 FOR THE WELLNESS COMMUNITY!
Thanks to Brian and Denise Pasch for hosting a TREMENDOUS event Saturday night, August 23rd at their Little Silver home! Under the background of a perfect summer evening, guests got familiar with the entire 2007 portfolio of Mollydooker wines with a tasting led by Mollydooker owner Sparky Marquis!
Host, Brian Pasch, with Executive Director of
The Wellness Community, Ilene Winters
The 2007 Portfolio!
The Jersey Shore Reef Band entertained the guests with some great tunes, and – at different points in the evening – were joined by Brian’s bother Steve, his wife Denise, and even his young son Connor! A very musical family!
Connor Pasch rocks the event
with a Beatles tune!
The Jersey Shore Reef Band generously
donated their time and talents!
Guests were also treated to wonderful appetizers, an “Aussie” style BBQ and scrumptious desserts, all provided by MerriMakers Catering.
Just some of the crowd enjoying the festivities.
Mollydooker owner, Sparky Marquis
talks about his wonderful wines.
Ben Lucarelli was nice enough to donate his services as spirited auctioneer for the evening. We auctioned 2 magnums of Mollydooker, a wine refrigerator FULL of Mollydooker wines, a rare bottle of French wine, and a food and wine tasting for 4 couples in the home of our Board Chair Gary Weiner and his wife Sophie.
Ben Lucarelli accepting an
auction bid from a guest.
A great time was had by all 135 guests. Now more people know about all the great things we do for people affected by cancer here at The Wellness Community in Eatontown!
The Magic of Friendship
On Sunday, June 8, 2008, we were joined by many of our participants and their families as we celebrated the 1 year anniversary of The Wellness Community, as well as National Cancer Survivors Day. At the height of the celebration, we had well over 100 people that braved the excessive heat and joined us under the tent behind The Wellness Community!
Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo welcomed the crowd and let everyone know how truly happy he was that a resource like The Wellness Community existed in his jurisdiction.
Motivational Speaker and "Edutainer" Rosemarie Poverman tickled the crowd with her quirky humor – she had us singing, dancing and laughing with her, and at ourselves. Red clown noses were passed out to everyone and we were encouraged to don them frequently!
Josh the Magician entertained with magic tricks, and the Core Fire Dancers gave three emotional and beautiful performances.
Their last performance included some of our participants that had been practicing for over a month!
We send a HUGE thank you to TWC Board Member Theresa Felzenberg and her committee for what all agreed was a truly amazing day!
Pictured, "The Magic of Friendship" committee, from left to right:
(standing) Cathy Radeschi, Shirley Schneider, Larry Taylor, Fran Benson (TWC Board Member), Pat Dietel (TWC Board Member) and Jan Tryba (TWC Program Director)
(seated) Annette Taylor, Theresa Felzenberg (Committee Chair and TWC Board Member), Sally Schiffman
2008 Spring Lake 5 Mile Run
On Saturday, May 24th, I joined 17 other runners in one of the country’s largest 5 mile runs, the Spring Lake 5. Runners were asked to raise $200 for The Wellness Community in exchange for an entry into the Spring Lake 5, which sells out in a matter of hours -- in February! This group raised almost $5,000 for The Wellness Community, which we will use to expand our existing programs for people affected by cancer.
Special thanks to Gina Kennedy and her family who have raised money AND opened their Spring Lake home to us for two years in a row. ( I especially LOVED parking my bike in her back yard! ) And, to Liam Kennedy who ran a lemonade stand on the day of the run and raised almost $50! Thank you, Kennedys!!!!
Here are some of the comments I received from the runners after the run:
"It was great. Thank you. Would love to do it again next year."
"We had a great run! We were able to run the whole 5 miles ... and we were very happy with that. We made in just under 1 hour! We were very impressed with ourselves. Thanks again for the spots. We were happy to raise money for The Wellness Community."
"What a great day and awesome experience! Thanks so much for your help in getting me to the finish line”!
"It was a great day. It was very nice to add a layer of meaning to the event. Not being a real runner, I figure if I am going to subject myself to the rigors of a 5 mile run, someone should benefit! Hope to do it again next year".
"Thank you very much ... it was great ..."
A HUGE thank you to the Phil Hinck and the organizers of The Spring Lake 5 for inviting us to take part in the fund raising aspect of this great run. This was our third year participating and we hope to be able to participate again next year!
Golf Outing for TWC
On Thursday, May 22, 2008 we had the 3rd Annual Invitational Golf Classic at Hollywood Golf Club in Deal, New Jersey.
84 golfers came out to brave the threatening rain, but the weather held off, and actually got sunny for a good part of the day. The golfers loved the course and the outstanding food and service provided at Hollywood, and a great day was had by all.
Winners of the day were:
INDIVIDUAL:
Ben Lucarelli – Low Callaway
John young – Low Gross
Jeff Levy – Closest to the Pin
Rob Krzanowski – Longest Drive
TEAM:
2nd Low Callaway:
Adrienne Lee
Terry Skibik
George Clark
Brain Wheller
2nd Low Gross:
Tom Magill
John Magill
Ralph Boccia
Kevin Brown
1st Low Callaway:
Michelle Codispoti
Jim Mullen
Paul Ade
Monte Edwards
1st Low Gross:
Ray Leahy
Dave Gagliano
Mike Mulcahy
Rich Vermeulen
And, the winner of the 50" Plasma TV was Dave Gagliano after a shoot-out of 16 people for a 100’ closest to the pin shot!
Congratulations to all on a great day and on contributing just under $30,000 to The Wellness Community!
Girl Scouts have Bake Sale for Wellness Community
On Monday, May 12th, Debbie Ryerson, Leader of Girl Scout Troop #881 from St. James School in Red Bank, visited The Wellness Community with troop members Jillian Drecier, Sophia Lalli, Liana Marzano, Sarah Perry, Emily Pszeniczny, and Andrea Ryerson. The girls came by to drop off some items that they had purchased for our new kitchen.
The girls had a bake sale at school and raised enough money to purchase many items that were sorely needed for our kitchen at The Wellness Community. At least monthly, we have educational cooking and nutrition programs in our kitchen, and our participants learn about healthy foods and healthy cooking. We have had guest chefs from local restaurants and specialty shops such as Market in the Middle, Jesse's Cafe, Dean's Natural Food Markets, and Sickle's Market. In June, Diane Henderiks will be here, and we look forward to many more GREAT classes now that we have all the items we need to make a great meal.
A HUGE thank you goes out to the girls of Troop #881 for helping to complete our kitchen so that our participants can learn how to eat and cook more healthy food! We SO appreciate their time and energy with this great project!
Ilene Winters
Executive Director
(732) 578-9200
Long Branch Half Marathon
This past Sunday, May 4th, I joined 13 other runners in the Long Branch Half Marathon, which was part of the New Jersey Marathon weekend. This was a group that trained to run or run/walk, or walk for our “Strides for Hope” Marathon program. Participants raised funds for The Wellness Community in exchange for a personalized training program and some other “perks”.
We had a SPECTACULAR turn out. Everyone did REALLY well in the run (someone even managed to lose 26 pounds in the process of training!) and a great time was had by all. AND, the group raised over $11,000 (and counting) for The Wellness Community!!!!
Our Strides for Hope team for the Long Branch Half were:
- Liz Brown (TOP FUND RAISER!!!)
- Christy Clifford (Relay – Laura’s Team)
- Deanna Farrugia
- Gale Gage (Relay – Laura’s Team)
- Laura Hampton (Relay Captain – Laura’s Team – First time running 8 miles!!!)
- Jim Morrison
- Michael Morrison
- Donna Palmer
- Jennifer Parigian (FASTEST RUNNER!!! Top 10 in her age group!!!)
- Nancy Peterson
- Erika Saldutti (Relay – Laura’s Team)
- Gayle Stamer
- Maureen Tucker (Ran despite an injured hip!!!)
We will definitely do this again next year, so if you are interested in running, run/walking, or walking a half or full marathon, please be in touch.
We will also be going to a warm weather destination in December 2008 or January 2009 to do the same! All expenses paid – you just train and raise the money!
Cancer survivors encouraged! First timers more than welcome!!!!!
Ilene Winters
Executive Director
(732) 578-9200
What's New
The Wellness Community,
Northern Jersey Shore
The Diney Goldsmith Center
Victoria Commons
613 Hope Road
Eatontown, NJ 07724
Phone: 732-578-9200
Fax: (732) 578-9201
