July 18, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 11 quite a while.) Recently, he was inducted into the National Honor Society. CJ remains extremely positive despite his suffering. He would love an iPad to use for school and to write his poetry. He also would love to be able to go to Dave and Buster’s with his friends to hang out and just be a regular teenager. 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. 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 grab some extra items and drop them off at our outreach center. Staples such as sugar, flour, salt, cooking oil, detergent, pancake mix/syrup, and rice are always needed. Consider turning your next event into a fundraiser for ECF, and ask guests to bring checks or gift cards to be used by our families. Your efforts help us to help our families in many ways, including sending a case worker to visit the families at home or in the hospital. Kids can help, too. Many have held sales or other events and contributed the proceeds to ECF. If your Boy Scout or Girl Scout Troop needs to earn badges, visit us in Midland Park. Scouts can get creative and have fun helping our families as they learn about philanthropy. ECF representatives are available to discuss our programs at your next fundraiser or event. Give us a call for more information. If you have a few hours a week to spare, (continued on page 17) Our hat’s off to: Brownie Troop 232 from Wyckoff, whose members made 24 birthday bags for us! Thank you to leaders Diane Pope, Michele Kurys, and Tamsen Gallagher. We send special congratulations to Leon Varjian, who was recently recognized as one of four teachers who were named Bergen County Teachers of the Year. Leon has been bringing food to our pantry for years. Thank you, Leon, and congratulations! Thank you to the Junior Troop girls who brought us birthday bags and much-needed gift cards. Thanks to the Church of the Nativity for their wonderful Food Drive! Our families now need window air conditioning units that are new or in good working condition. We also need boys’ summer clothing in sizes 7/8 and XL, and shoes in size 7. Some of our families could use prepaid phone cards for Cricket Mobile. We are looking for clothing gift cards to TJ Maxx and Marshalls. We will give these to our families so they can buy summer clothing. In addition, we need gas gift cards. We are in need of new sheets for twin size beds and Good Night Pampers stage 4. We also need new pillows. Please let us know if you can help with any of these items. Meet CJ: At times, CJ is a typical 17year-old who enjoys playing video games, hanging out with his friends, and going swimming. Lately, however, CJ is anything but typical. In December of 2007, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He went through chemotherapy and radiation to help shrink the tumor. In September, his tumor stayed the same and his spinal tap came back normal. In September of 2008, he started getting bad headaches, and he couldn’t even get out of bed. However, CJ is a fighter and insisted on going to school despite the pain. CJ went back to the hospital and to different doctors to see what was causing the headaches. By December of that year, he had lost 25 pounds and was in danger of being put on a feeding tube if he continued to lose weight. Meanwhile, the headaches continued and he went to doctor after doctor and was put through test after test. CJ went through many surgeries to his sinuses and developed a tremor in his arms. In addition, his balance and vision became issues. In November of 2010, something in his chest began to grow, and he required a brace. At one point, the pain became unbearable. His Caseworker saw that he was holding his chest and had tears in his eyes from the pain. His balance and sight were so poor that CJ needed a walker to get around. He developed a cough so bad that he would wince every time he coughed. Mom brought CJ to every hospital and doctor in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Mom was frustrated that no one could help her son, who was deteriorating before her eyes. In April of 2012, CJ finally got some help from Johns Hopkins Hospital when they diagnosed him with trigeminal neuralgia. He went in for the first surgery last month and is going for the next surgery this month. Despite everything that CJ has been through, he gets straight A’s in school. (He has been working with a tutor at home for