Miles of love and community spirit

Neighbors at 23 Mendham Road cheer on the wheelchair participants. From left, Laura and Leah Simpson, Morgan and Debbie Infusino and Spencer Sorge.

“Finally, it’s not pouring rain or 51 degrees. You earned this.” With those words, Wayne Cabot, news anchor for WCBS Newsradio 880, sent the 5K runners on their way during the 17th annual Miles for Matheny, the Matheny Medical and Educational Center’s annual fundraiser and community event, held Sunday, June 1, at Liberty Park in Peapack-Gladstone. Matheny is a special hospital and educational facility for children and adults with medically complex developmental disabilities.

The weather, as Cabot indicated, was perfect. But so were the atmosphere and  overall sense of community spirit, highlighted by the festivities at 23 Mendham Road, located along the route of the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk in Peapack-Gladstone. Thanks to Heather Santoro, who lives there with her family, that stop, just before the home stretch of the 1.5-mile journey, served as an incredible rallying point for the wheelchair participants, their friends, families and caregivers when they saw signs that read, “We Love Matheny” and “Roll On, Matheny,” and heard the enthusiastic cheering and noisemaking.

The day, which also featured five cycling routes and a kids’ fun run, attracted an outpouring of supporters from  communities throughout New Jersey. And all the running, walking and cycling, as Cabot and WCBS-TV meteorologist Elise Finch reminded everyone, was being done for one purpose: to support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s children, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best possible medical, dental and therapy care.

Community resident Chet Cheesman gets some assistance from his sister Amber in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk.

Posters for Miles

Matheny teacher Joanna Alfone helps Ari Golub and classmate Katherine Gaudio get started on one of the Miles for Matheny posters.

With less than a week to go, the students and patients at Matheny are looking forward to the 17th annual Miles for Matheny fundraiser and community event, which will be held this Sunday, June 1. The highlight is the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, in which more than 100 wheelchair participants, with walking partners, will travel 1.5 miles around downtown Peapack-Gladstone, NJ, cheered on by family, friends, Matheny staff members and local residents.

This year, Heather Santoro, a resident of Mendham Road in Gladstone, has organized a contest to see who can create the best banner to wave as the wheelchairs pass by her house and those of her neighbors. But Matheny students have decided to create some additional posters for other spectators, and Ari Golub, whose family is a major sponsor of Miles, has galvanized his classmates to make this a special project, coordinated by his teacher, Joanna Alfone.

All funds raised at Miles for Matheny will help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s children, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best possible medical, dental and therapy care. Activities, in addition to the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, include a USATF-certified 5K Race, five different Cycling courses, a Kids Fun Run and the “Breakfast of Champions” provided by The Friends of Matheny. Major sponsors, besides the Golub family, are the Poses Family Foundation; Partlow Insurance; Peapack-Gladstone Bank; Porzio, Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law; BP Fueling Communities; Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc.; WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880.

To obtain more information on Miles or to register, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

From left, students Katherine Gaudio, Ari Golub, teacher Joanna Alfone and student Jenna Poleyeff display one of the Miles for Matheny posters they made in class.

A banner day

From left, Isabelle, Sophia and Heather Santoro with Matheny student Shane Szott.

Every year, Heather Santoro of Gladstone, NJ, looks forward to the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk at Miles for Matheny because the wheelchair participants and their walking partners go right past her home on Mendham Road.

The Santoros usually have a party on the day of Miles, inviting friends and neighbors to their house to cheer on the Matheny students and patients as they pass by. But this year Heather Santoro is going the extra mile, so to speak. Her family will be making Miles for Matheny banners, and she’s urging her neighbors on Mendham Road to do the same. She also plans to distribute a flyer in the neighborhood, and there may even be a contest to see who comes up with the most creative banner.

Santoro grew up in Peapack-Gladstone and moved back as an adult about 10 years ago. She visited Matheny recently with her daughters, six-year-old Isabelle, a first grader at the Bedwell School in Bernardsville, and nine-year-old Sophia, a Bedwell third grader. Both plan to participate in the Kids Fun Run at Miles for Matheny, and Heather’s husband, Chris, will be running in the 5K. The girls also are going to take part in a special program at The Matheny School that invites them to read to some of the students. There are also plans for a community softball game.

All funds raised at Miles for Matheny support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s children, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best possible therapy and medical and dental care.

Major sponsors for this year’s Miles for Matheny, which will be held on June 1, include the Poses Family Foundation, the Golub Family, Partlow Insurance, Peapack-Gladstone Bank, Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law, BP Fueling Communities, Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc., WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880. For more information or to register, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

From left, Sophia, Isabelle and Heather Santoro with Matheny director of occupational therapy Donna Kelly and student Jacob Rolaf.