Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • November 16, 2011 with hepatoblastoma on the day of his birth last October. He finished chemotherapy in March and is currently undergoing more tests. His mother is a single parent. She is unemployed and is going through divorce from a nonparticipating military father. The baby needs a hearing aid and a helmet to address the head-flattening that occurred due to all the months he spent in a neo-natal hospital bed. Mark and his mom are both living temporarily with Mark’s grandfather, but the small cramped apartment is not a longterm solution. Mark’s mom is feeling very overwhelmed and depressed due to the marital conflicts and Mark’s diagnosis. Mark needs stage two diapers. He is also on a special formula called Optimum Peptamen Jr. with Prebiol Vanilla that his mom must purchase. Your contribution will help us to provide assistance to this struggling family. Join us at our next big event. On Sunday, Nov. 20, the Ridgewood Art Institute will host a Wine & Cheese Reception and Annual Art Show & Sale. Proceeds will benefit ECF. Hours will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Mark your calendar: Our Second Annual Hollywood Bash will be held on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. Please call us if you would like to get involved in these or other events. We are looking for donations for our auction and ad placements. Each month, we distribute about 140 bags of food to our families. You can help us fill our pantry. When you go grocery shopping and something non-perishable is on sale, please pick up some extra items and drop them off at ECF. Staples such as sugar, flour, salt, cooking oil, detergent, pancake mix/syrup, and rice are always needed. We rely on our local community to help support our families. Many of them do not have the financial or emotional support to help them get through a major illness like cancer. Please remember: We do not charge anything for our services. We rely on you! ECF uses monetary contributions to cover the costs associated with providing free services to any New Jersey child who has cancer. Approximately 70 cents from every dollar goes toward direct care for our families. If your company has a charitable giving program, please let us know. The holidays will soon be here. Please consider making a special contribution so we can help our families enjoy the (continued on page 15) Our hat’s off to third grader John Skead from Eastern Christian Elementary for bringing us food he collected for his birthday party. We thank the members of Franklin Lakes Girl Scout Troop 1202 who spent a Saturday morning with us making Thanksgiving baskets. Thanks to Girl Scout Troop 1383 from Ridgewood for bringing us all the good stuff they collected during their Food Drive. A special thank you goes to Michael Gerber of Franklin Lakes who brought us a very generous donation he collected from his bar mitzvah. Thank you to everyone at Western World Insurance in Franklin Lakes for holding the Merchandise Blow-Out fundraiser to benefit ECF. We were blown away by their thoughtfulness! We are so grateful for the amazing people, young and old, who help us out. Meet Mark: Mark is a one-year old who was diagnosed