Start a fundraising team

Team Bo from Miles 2013.

A great way to raise money for Miles for Matheny is to get more people involved by starting a team. It could include members of your school, church, book club, running club—or it could be just friends and family. You can create a team registration page, train together, set team fundraising goals or even generate a friendly competition among team members to see who can raise the most money.

You can also create a personal or team webpage at www.milesformatheny.org to make your fundraising efforts easier. You can upload photos of you and your teammates, set fundraising goals and send emails to your friends and family, asking them to support you at Miles for Matheny.

Miles for Matheny is being held Sunday, June 1, at Liberty Park in downtown Peapack. Events include the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, a 5K Road Race, five Cycling Routes, a Kids Fun Run and the “Breakfast of Champions,” provided by The Friends of Matheny. All funds raised will help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, which provides medical, dental and therapy care to Matheny inpatients and people with disabilities in communities throughout New Jersey.

For more information about how to start a fundraising team and webpage, log onto www.milesformatheny.org. If you need help, email pcats@matheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

Back row, from left, Elfinesh Wondafrash, personal care assistant; Elizabeth Andolino; Lori Bertoline; and Sean Murphy, principal of The Matheny School. Front row, from left, Matheny students India Jones, Austin Bramson, Jamil Jones and Daeon Troutman.

Lori Bertoline, regional director, youth market, for the American Heart Association, stopped by Matheny recently to thank us for raising $352 during GoRed/Heart Health month in February. “Matheny,” she said, “always goes to the limit, not only raising funds but raising awareness.”

In 2004, the American Heart Association created Go Red for Women to educate women on heart disease, help women come together to show their support and increase funding for heart disease research and treatments for those in need. Matheny’s fundraising effort was coordinated by Elizabeth Andolino, manager of the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, and Joan Ray, employee health nurse.

Clockwise, from top left: FHCDS students Julia DeSantis and Alicia Mirchandani; Matheny student Shane Szott; and FHCS students Pito Walton, Anna Fox and Frankie Walls.

The Upper School Musical at Far Hills Country Day School this year was Mulan Jr., the stage adaptation of the Disney film, Mulan, the story of a courageous young girl in ancient China. Prior to presenting the play on March 5 and 6, the cast visited Matheny and previewed some of the highlights for our students and patients.

The children’s dining room at Matheny was packed for the production, and the students enjoyed a brief visit after the performance. Far Hills is a pre-K thru eighth grade independent school in Far Hills, NJ. Many of its students regularly volunteer at Matheny.

A scene from the show.

Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, 2013.

Online registration for the 17th annual Miles for Matheny began on March 11. This year’s event will be held on Sunday, June 1, at Liberty Park in downtown Peapack. Activities include:

• The Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk where friends and family members walk alongside more than 100 Matheny children and adults who “wheel” through the streets of downtown Peapack to the cheers of community members and other supporters.

• 5K Road Race through the beautiful Somerset Hills on town and rural roads.

• Five Cycling Routes winding through the picturesque countryside.

• Kids Fun Run for children, ages 3-10.

• “Breakfast of Champions,” provided by The Friends of Matheny.

All money raised at Miles for Matheny will benefit the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, which provides medical, dental and therapy care to Matheny inpatients and to people with disabilities living in communities throughout New Jersey.

For more information, to register or start a fundraising page, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

5K Run, 2013.

Joseph Larena, RN, with preschool student Joshua Rincon. Joshua is using the KidWalk, a mobility system that allows children to independently explore their environment. It was a gift from Matheny’s auxiliary group, The Friends of Matheny.

When parents send their special-needs son or daughter to preschool, it is often their first time away from that child. That’s why a registered nurse is considered an essential part of the Matheny preschool class. “We decided that parents and families need that extra peace of mind,” says The Matheny School principal Sean Murphy.

The preschool nurse, Joseph Larena, RN, says that being an in-class nurse who continuously interacts with the children and participates in daily classwork “provides me with an opportunity to truly know each child. This allows me to instantly identify and respond to issues that may arise and prevent certain complications from occurring.”

Before coming to Matheny, Larena, a resident of Blairstown, NJ, worked in home care. There, he says, “there was no contact between the home and the school.”

Larena has been working at Matheny for about six months. The culture, he says, “is unlike anything I have experienced at other schools. The staff is truly passionate about making a difference in the children’s lives.”

Verve owner Rick St. Pierre and Frances Fago of Raritan.

A five-day party began on Thursday, February 27, as residents of Somerville, NJ, and surrounding communities kicked off the Mardi Gras Carnivale at Somerville’s Verve Restaurant.

The contemporary French restaurant celebrated what it calls “the funnest time of the year” from the opening night through Fat Tuesday on March 4 with a mask auction, “gaudy decorations and cheap plastic trinkets.” There were also food specials from the cuisines of New Orleans, Brazil and Venice and a Gumbo Cookoff on Sunday, March 2.

For the third straight year, partial proceeds from the celebration will benefit Matheny. And the walls were adorned with special Mardi Gras masks made by Matheny students, patients and staff. Thank you, Verve!

From left, Ernst Michel, owner of Tessuto Menswear, Somerville; Clarrisa Tanner, CEO of Tanner Financial Services, Bridgewater; and Chris Stamatavos, owner of Kyma Greek Cuisine, Somerville.

Sam Romano, left, and Sean Proske of the Hillsborough High School RoboRaiders robotics team demonstrate how a light box works to Matheny adult community resident Chet Cheesman.

Members of Team 75, the RoboRaiders, Hillsborough, NJ, High School’s FIRST robotics competition team, visited the Matheny Adult Learning Center, also in Hillsborough, and brought with them special switch-operated light boxes that they donated to the Matheny adults. They are also creating a switch-operated camera for use by Matheny adults.

FIRST, an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, is a Manchester, N.H.-based organization, founded by inventor Dean Kamen in 1989, that seeks to inspire an appreciation of science and technology in young people. Team 75 is the oldest active FIRST team in New Jersey and, since its inception in 1996, has won a variety of awards regional championships, national excellence in 3-D design and the prestigious Chairman’s Award. During the off-season, Team 75 participates in a variety of community service efforts, including car washes, bake sales and the packing of boxes to be sent to troops in Afghanistan for Operation Shoebox.

According to Todd Deremer, an adaptive physical education instructor at the Hillsborough Adult Learning Center, the light boxes help Matheny’s adults in several ways. “They use them to improve coordination, by accessing one of the four buttons with their hands or feet,” he says. “The light boxes also help with color recognition, perception of cause and effect, tactile stimulation and visual stimulation.”

Matheny adult resident Bo Geraghty operates a light box with her feet, assisted by adaptive physical education instructor Todd Deremer.

Shireen Dickson presents Matheny student Jameir Warren-Treadwell with an Okra Dance Company “Guest Performer” ribbon.

So you think you can dance? The New York City-based Okra Dance Company can, and in a special assembly at Matheny, dancers Brian Davis and Shireen Dickson demonstrated dance styles covering almost 400 years of history.

The company performs cultural, educational and interactive programs highlighting the breadth of American dance styles, from folk dances to tap, swing and vaudeville.
Davis and Dickson performed Irish jigs, tap, soft shoe, minuets and swing. There were tributes to vaudeville star Bert Williams and to Earl “Snakehips” Tucker, who popularized a dance known as the “snakehips” in Harlem in the 1920s.

The performance was both educational and entertaining, and the audience at Matheny quickly captured the spirit of the show and savored the experience.

Brian Davis with adult patients Daniel Rushton, left, and Michael Martin.

School nurse Amy Murdter helps student Kimberly Alarcon with her library paging duties.

Have you ever checked a book out of the library, only to find that someone has doodled on several of the pages, or perhaps spilled something that left a big stain? Well, some of the students in Matheny’s transition program are trying to alleviate your suffering.

The transition program is intended to boost the independence of students, both within the school and in the surrounding community. With that in mind, a group of Matheny students regularly visits the Bridgewater, NJ, Township Library to serve as library pagers in the youth services section, looking through books to find out which pages have these blemishes. Then, they put a sticky note on the damaged pages they find and turn the books over to the library staff to follow up. Some of the Matheny students are non-verbal, but, working with a school staff member, they communicate via switches or symbols. For example, a staff member will ask, “Sticky note, or turn the page?” and the student will answer via a voice-automated switch or point to a symbol, indicating one of the two answers.

Other transition activities include sizing, sorting and organizing at the TJMaxx/Home Goods stores in Bridgewater and serving as office cleaners and organizers at the Gurukul Yoga Center, also in Bridgewater.

One student found this damage to Abraham Lincoln’s nose in the book "Abraham Lincoln and the End of Slavery."

Larry Thornton helps out at a Matheny Hoops for Heart fundraiser for the American Heart Association.

By Larry Thornton

At first, I started volunteering at Matheny one day a week. During this time, I focused on learning each of the students’ names and getting an understanding of their medical conditions. Additionally, this gave me an opportunity to establish a working rapport with the administrators, teachers and staff who make this incredible facility possible. As time went on, my assistance was utilized beyond the classroom, which provided me with a greater knowledge of the medical center and school and increased my desire to help.

My many experiences at Matheny—including a pep rally, a student talent show and a graduation ceremony, as well as my time in the classroom—provided me with a greater understanding of the myriad services and opportunities available to Matheny’s children. As I sat in the beautiful arts center, I remembered reading one of the articles in a newsletter about the facility. The headline said: “The Therapists and Caregivers at Matheny View the Students as Capable Children with No Predetermined Limits on their Achievements.” This article was based on the comments of a Matheny parent, Julie Gordon, and highlighted The Matheny School’s conviction that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to learning. The events I witnessed truly exemplify the wisdom of Julie’s message.

By the end of June, I was volunteering three days a week and, for the first time, I was filling my retirement void. As I volunteer at this amazing place, what strikes me most is  the school’s goal to enhance the emerging skills of each student. This is achieved through the loving care provided by the devoted staff in a creative, upbeat and positive environment. I can truly say that miracles happen every day at Matheny.

(Second of two articles)

Yasin on the job selling baked goods to help the animals.

Matheny adult patient Yasin Reddick is an animal lover. So when he decided to hold a bake sale to raise money for a charity, the Humane Society was a natural choice. “He went through a list of charities,” says Meghan Walsh, a Matheny recreation therapist, “and chose the Humane Society because he really likes animals and wanted to help in any way that he could.”

Reddick planned the bake sale for about a month. He would independently ask staff members and peers for baked donations, and he baked his own homemade dog treats. Reddick raised $205. “It made me feel great and happy,” he says, “because it helped the animals!”

The Humane Society, the nation’s largest animal protection agency, helps animals by advocating for better laws to protect them, providing animal rescue and emergency response, and investigating cases of animal cruelty.

A sign promoting the fundraiser.

Larry Thornton and Matheny teacher Margaret “Peggy” Zappulla.

By Larry Thornton

I retired in December 2008 after 47 years in the packaging and display industry. When retirement approached, I had no idea what it would mean for me. There was travel, golf, gardening and the luxury of reading many books. However, the transition from working daily to a life of leisure was not easy.

After moving to Peapack-Gladstone in December 2011, I familiarized myself with this picturesque rural town and, with the help of the town library, learned of the world-renowned medical and educational center located in the heart of town. Upon discovering Matheny, I set up an appointment with Gail Cunningham and David Curcio, who run Matheny’s volunteer services program. Gail and David graciously met with me for more than an hour and provided me with an extensive tour of the beautiful facilities that are perched on one of the highest elevations in Somerset County. As I left Matheny that Friday morning, my first thoughts reflected amazement. The citizens of New Jersey, and especially Peapack-Gladstone, should be proud to have such an incredible medical and educational facility for children and adults with medically complex developmental disabilities. Matheny has been a part of the fabric of our community since 1954.

I started volunteering at Matheny in March 2013.  Sean P. Murphy, principal of The Matheny School, kindly gauged my interest in science and introduced me to Margaret Zappulla, one of Matheny’s teachers. I knew from the first day that a completely new challenge confronted me, as this environment was so different from what I did each day during the 47 years of my career. I was in a quandary as to how I would be able to contribute and help these young adults who could not communicate or verbalize.  By the second day, my perception changed. I looked beneath the surface and saw a whole new and exciting world. I took time to reflect on how it would be for me not to be able to express myself or to walk. How does one deal with these conditions without feeling frustration? Therein lay the problem for most of these students and residents, who have so much to say and yet face ongoing obstacles to communication.

(First of two articles)