UNION, NJ — The Union Chamber of Commerce is spreading the word about the July 8 “Fun-Raiser,” presented by St. Baldrick’s Foundation, to help children who are fighting cancer.
The foundation is a volunteer-powered charity whose mission is to fund research to find cures for childhood cancers, and the event will be hosted by The Learning Experience, an early childhood center located in Union. The event will feature food trucks, live music, face painting, carnival games and more.
James Masterson, Executive Director of Union’s Chamber of Commerce, told LocalSource he was happy to become involved in a cause dedicated to making children cancer-free.
“Our chamber motto is, ‘Community, Contacts, Connections — Where Business is Personal,’” Masterson said in a June 26 email. “We are all about supporting our business members in every way. But, when they also reach out to support worthy causes, we want to be there, too.”
According to Masterson, The Learning Experience is a new chamber member.
“We always work to support the community efforts of our members, and they asked us to assist,” he said. “One of the chamber’s benefits to members is outreach and connections, so we were able to share this event with our members and contacts and ask them to join in. Our members are very community-minded, and they like to help each other.”
According to Masterson, the St. Baldrick’s Foundation makes a point of showing solidarity with kids with cancer.
“One of things they are famous for is having folks shave their heads in solidarity with the children who are going through chemo and other treatments for their conditions,” Masterson said. “Many men and women have gone to events like these and had their hair shaved to show their love and support.”
Romina Mehra, of The Learning Experience, told LocalSource that the child care center holds yearly fundraisers.
“We try to contribute to different organizations and help contribute however we can,” Mehra said in a June 29 email. “We are raising money for St Baldrick’s to support kids suffering with cancer. The event on July 8 is a fun-filled event for children. We would like everyone who visits us to donate to this noble cause, and all the funds collected will be donated to St Baldrick’s.”
According to Mehra, this year’s event will be an interactive one.
“We do fundraisers every year but this year we decided to make it more child interactive so all the kids can be a part of it and learn a lot more,” she said. “We wanted to make it a fun event for the children to spread awareness and to have them participate and contribute to the society.”
Masterson said he would love to take his involvement even one step further.
“I would love to get my head shaved, but my head is already bald,” he said. “But I will be there to support them.”