Page 8 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • February 12, 2014 Our Fourth Annual Bash is less than a month away. This is our signature annual fundraiser and will be held March 7. Pro- ceeds help pay for counseling and finan- cial assistance for 70 families in northern New Jersey. The event will be held at the Brick House in Wyckoff. Tickets are $75 each and include food, drinks, dancing, an auction, and a special guest speaker. Volunteers are still needed. E-mail laura@emmanuelcancer.org for tickets or to volunteer. Meet Chris: You may already be familiar with Chris, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor when he was 12. He went through radiation to help shrink the tumor, and went into remission. Since then, his journey has been a nightmare. He has endured horrific face pain, headaches, weight loss, a stroke, and numerous surgeries. The stroke left him with problems resulting in loss of balance and vision. He ended up in a wheelchair and needed intensive physical therapy to learn how to walk again. The horrible pain in his face continued and eventually he was diagnosed with tri- geminal neuralgia. This is commonly found in older people and is known as the suicide disease because many people commit sui- cide to stop the intense pain. Then Chris started getting non-stop hiccup spasms and they quickly got worse. A device was placed on his head after a chiropractor tried the unit in all different places all over the body. When he got to the right side of the head, the spasms finally stopped. However, if Chris turns off the unit, the spasms con- tinue to point where he cannot breathe. Just taking a shower exhausts Chris and causes such anguish. Chris and his mom have been to doctors in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and recently to the Mayo clinic in Minnesota. No one has been able to help. As a result of all this, Chris had to cancel his driving test and the SATs three times, but he still managed to make the honor soci- ety and become class salutatorian when he graduated. Despite his health problems, Chris wanted to give back to the community, and he started Chris’s Fight for a Cure Founda- tion, which provides a $100 savings bond to a deserving eighth grader every year. Chris and his family continue to work toward having a normal life. In the process, they have incurred many medical bills and travel expenses. They could benefit from gift cards of any type to help them with the enormous travel expenses incurred in trying to get Chris the help he needs. ECF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide a variety of specialized services, at no charge, to any New Jersey family facing the challenges of caring for a child with cancer. We provide direct in- home care to our families. Many of fami- lies do not have the financial or emotional support to help them get through a major illness like cancer, so our primary focus is providing families with professional coun- seling, household items, monthly grocery deliveries, and emergency financial assis- tance. These individually tailored services are critical in helping families get through the crisis of pediatric cancer. ECF doesn’t receive any government funding. We rely on donations from the community. We need volunteers who can deliver groceries to families in Bergen and Essex counties. Spanish-speaking drivers are in particularly high demand. Local residents of all ages are invited to host a fundraiser or food collection to benefit our families. If your company has a charitable giving pro- gram, please let us know! If you have a few hours a week to spare, consider becoming a volunteer or just stop by and meet with us, take a look at our food pantry, and see what ECF is all about. The Northern Regional Center is located at 174 Paterson Avenue in Midland Park. Please call (201) 612-8118 before you stop by. Because storage space is limited, please do not leave items at the center without checking with us first. Visit www.emmanuelcancer.org or “like” on Facebook: EmmanuelCancer- Foundation. As always, thank you for help- ing the children and their families! Wyckoff Young stars shine Wee Dance students from the Wyckoff School of Dance performed ‘Wee Dance in the Land of Sweets’ with original music from ‘The Nut- cracker.’ Older students performed a showcase featuring holiday music and dances from all over the world and from all faiths. The shows were delayed due to the December snowstorms, but were recently presented to enthusiastic audiences. Director Diana Dana thanks the school’s staff, including the parent and student helpers, without whom the shows could not have been possible. Borough plans to permit boating at preserve (continued from page 3) be instituted to ensure that the expanded use would not compromise safety issues. Motors of any sort would be prohib- ited, for instance, and boats would only be launched from the nature preserve’s parking facility located off High Mountain Road. No swimming would be allowed from the shore or from water crafts, and boating activities would only be permitted from April 1 to Sept. 30 and only during day- light hours. In addition, it was recommended that those under the age of 18 would not be permitted to participate in boating without adult supervision. Bivona said there would not be a charge for nonresidents because the property was purchased with the state’s Green Acres money, which requires that the preserve be open to all members of the public. “We would be losing a great asset by not letting people boat on the preserve,” Bivona said, and directed Hart and Borough Attor- ney Bill Smith to draft an ordinance for introduction.