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Roxbury Schools Raise Funds for Pediatric Cancer

ROXBURY, NJ (March 24, 2023) – Schools in Roxbury Township had a reason to celebrate this March, not just for St. Patrick’s Day and all things Irish or for March Madness, but for the amount of money they raised to fight pediatric cancer. Out of three events held between March 10th and 24th, the district raised more than $76,000.

Roxbury High School’s RoxTHON kicked things off with their annual all-night dance THON on Friday, March 10th into Saturday morning. More than 300 students signed up for the event, with 254 in attendance. Students danced the night away to a disco theme to raise money and support for the fight against pediatric cancer in the Roxbury High School gymnasium.

Seventy percent of the funds raised will go to the Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown with the remainder going to Four Diamonds. Funds raised cover medical bills for families as well as cancer research.

In the past ten years, the RHS RoxTHON team raised more than $434,000!

Next up, in the spirit of St. Patty’s Day, Kennedy Elementary School hosted a St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event on March 16th to raise money for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation that assists families whose children are battling cancer. Thanks to the organization of Heidi Bagonis and Jenn Perhacs, there were 14 boys (two KES alumni now at Eisenhower Middle School and 12 boys from Kennedy) who had their heads shaved. There were also two girls who had their hair cut in addition to one staff member.

Kennedy’s top fundraisers were brothers, AJ Montrose (from EMS) and Jason Montrose, raising over $2,000. The shavees included AJ Montrose (EMS), Jacob Schuchman (EMS), Jason Montrose, Andrew Levinson, Ben Gonzalez, Collin Chiu, Cooper Zeis, EJ Territo, Nicholas Dellavalle, Hunter Wilce, Dylan Bewalder, Joseph Montoya, Carter Bertos, and Mason Wyhopen. On the girl’s side, we had Kelly Wademan and Viviana Agudelo along with second-grade teacher Erin Allen.

Although they didn’t have their head shaved or cut, third-grader Ande DeKorte raised over $500, and Joni and Demi (shavers) from Hair 2 Please raised $375. Collectively, Kennedy Elementary School raised more than $9,500.

Kennedy’s Early Act Club arranged to have a leprechaun (Steve Alford from the Roxbury Rotary) show up once again at the St. Baldrick’s event to have students take their pictures with him as an additional fundraiser for the event. Students could pay $1 for a picture with the leprechaun.

Lincoln/Roosevelt wrapped up the month by hosting its own St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event on March 24th with 25 fifth and sixth graders having their heads shaved in addition to seven Franklin Elementary School students who came over to support the cause, in addition to a handful of staff members.

In the 13 years Lincoln/Roosevelt School has been hosting this event under the leadership and guidance of Jim McDermott, PE/Health teacher at LRS, the school has raised over $300,000. This year’s total as of this Friday afternoon was $13,184.

McDermott recognized five students in particular. The first three, Bobby Forbes (grade 6), Justin Rawa (grade 6), and Bradley Staples (grade 5) were knighted Squires of Hope, having participated in the event for three years. Fifth grader, Heath Jackson received a medal for being the top fundraiser, raising $1,250 while Nathan Hopkins received a huge shout-out for having more than a foot of hair cut off yesterday to be donated.

All of this year’s Lincoln/Roosevelt participants were Carson Beers, Ryan Bianco, Jayden Brinkofski, Jacob Cioletti, Liam Donaldson, Tyler Elsasser, Anthony Esposito, Bobby Forbes, Nathan Hopkins, Heath Jackson, Steve Jason, Charlie Kendall, Sam Martin, Anthony Maxwell, Hunter Mikus, Zachary Orban, Avery Ramoo, Justin Rawa, Jonathan Rivera, Shane Spencer, Daniel Spezza, Bradley Staples, Zachary Statlander, Wyatt Stoia, and Walter Von Der Heyde.

Franklin’s participants were Zander Bilbao, Patrick Blehl, Johnathan Morris, Matthew Reed, Connor Springer, Ezequiel Torres, and Godfrey Uba.

A special thank you goes out to all the shavers who helped with these events. Kennedy shavers included Joni Tyler (Hair 2 Please), Demi Merz (Hair 2 Please), Samantha Khoury (Razors Edge), and Dina Corsi. Lincoln/Roosevelt shavers included Janet Stone (Barber on Main, Blairstown), Kathleen Benemerito (Dominick’s Salon, Landing), Kevin Culleny (Cuts by Kevin, Kenvil), and Amanda and Spencer Dolan (Fresh Cuts Barber Shop, Landing).

PHOTO ATTACHED (courtesy of Roxbury Schools)

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