Miles for Matheny 2020 – Thank you for participating!

Virtual Miles for Matheny 2020 was a blast! 

We officially kicked off our special, virtual Miles on Friday, June 12th at our Peapack campus with modified Wheelchair Walks on our three residential zones and three community group homes.

As the week went on, we were excited to receive photos and videos from the wider Matheny community telling us how they celebrated Miles!

If you want to check out great event photos, check out our album below, or follow our Facebook and Instagram pages!

Thank you for your support and participation! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Miles of volunteers

Jordan, left, and Courtney Smith of Bedminster handed out water bottles at Miles for Matheny 2014.

Jordan, left, and Courtney Smith of Bedminster handed out water bottles at Miles for Matheny 2014.

“Hi. I am interested in volunteering for the upcoming Miles for Matheny event. My family has recently relocated to Gladstone, and we’ve heard that this is a wonderful event and would like to help out in some way. Please let me know if you are in need of volunteers and in what capacity. Thank you.”

That email from new Gladstone, NJ, resident Kristen Huamani, is typical of the community support for the 18th annual Miles for Matheny, the fundraiser and community event being held this Sunday, May 31, at Liberty Park in downtown Peapack, NJ. All five members of the Huamani family will be volunteering that day along with more than 400 others who will be doing things like distributing t-shirts, processing registration, handing out water bottles, greeting Matheny students and patients as they arrive in the park, painting faces, walking with wheelchair participants, forming cheering sections along the wheelchair walk route, cleaning up and helping people park their cars at Pfizer.

Groups include the Junior Friends of Matheny (mainly high school students from Bernards and Ridge), members of the Peapack–Gladstone-based Lone Eagle Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol, employees of Peapack–Gladstone Bank and several other school and church groups.

A new group, “PG Loves Matheny,” will be participating in the Fitness Walk. Says member Donna Brooten of Gladstone: “There are many Matheny supporters in Peapack–Gladstone, and a one-mile Fitness Walk is the perfect way to show your support. Join the ‘PG Loves Matheny’ team on May 31 at 12:15 at Liberty Park.”

Events at Miles for Matheny include the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, the new Fitness Walk, a Kids Fun Run and five different Cycling rides. A “Breakfast of Champions” will be available, courtesy of The Friends of Matheny. All funds raised will support programs and services that enhance the lives of the children and adults at Matheny and provide services for people with disabilities in the community.

Premier sponsor is The Poses Family Foundation. Other major sponsors include the Golub Family, Mariner Wealth Advisors, Partlow Insurance, Peapack–Gladstone Bank, Porzio Bromberg & Newman P.C. Attorneys at Law and WCBS Newsradio 880. For more information, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

Residents of Mendham Road in Gladstone formed their own cheering section last year for participants in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk.

Residents of Mendham Road in Gladstone formed their own cheering section last year for participants in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk.

Miles for Matheny 2015

Participants in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk last year.

The 18th annual Miles for Matheny, Matheny’s annual fundraiser and community event, will be held on Sunday, May 31, at Liberty Park in downtown Peapack. This year the event will include a new Fitness Walk in addition to the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, five Cycling rides and a Kids Fun Run.

The signature event, of course, is the Wheelchair Walk, in which friends and families, along with Matheny staff, walk alongside more than 100 Matheny children and adults who “wheel” through the streets of downtown Peapack to the cheers of community members and other supporters.  The Cycling event offers a choice of 10-, 25-, 35- and 50-mile bike routes, plus the highly challenging “Hills of Attrition” endurance ride, all through the beautiful Somerset Hills countryside. The Kids Fun Run is open to children  ages 3–10, who are all winners—everyone receives a medal. The new one-mile Fitness Walk will precede the Wheelchair Walk, but all Fitness Walk participants are invited to join the wheelchair participants for a second mile around downtown Peapack. All participants and supporters will be able to indulge in The Friends of Matheny’s “Breakfast of Champions.”

Funds raised at Miles for Matheny will benefit programs and services that enhance the lives of the children and adults at Matheny and serve people with disabilities in the community. For more information, call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260, or email pcats@matheny.org. For sponsorship opportunities, call (908) 234-0011, ext. 315, or email jkriegman@matheny.org.

Peapack-Gladstone residents cheer the Wheelchair Walk participants as they roll past 23 Mendham Road.

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.

An ‘inspirational’ day

Matheny resident Jaime Barnes with, clockwise from left, Madeleine, Elenore, Chelsea and Matthew Mitschele.

Jaime Barnes has been a resident at Matheny for more than 10 years, and her sister, Chelsea Mitschele, has participated in Miles for Matheny every year. This year Chelsea and her husband Matthew created a Team Jaime page on the Miles for Matheny website to encourage family and friends to come out to Liberty Park in downtown Peapack, NJ, on Sunday, June 1, for what Chelsea describes as “a really inspirational day” and to contribute money to Jaime’s team page. Chelsea believes the event is uplifting because “you see the residents of Matheny out in the community, and you see all the support they receive from everyone who’s there.”

This year, both Chelsea and Matthew are planning to run in the 5K before moving over to cheer on the participants in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk. Their three-year-old daughter Eleanore will be competing in the Kids Fun Run. As of May 9, Team Jaime had raised $525, but the Mitscheles were hoping that number would rise after they reached out to more family and friends.

In addition to the Wheelchair Walk, 5K and Kids Fun Run, activities at Miles include five different Cycling courses and The Friends of Matheny’s “Breakfast of Champions.” All funds raised help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best medical, dental and therapy care possible. Major sponsors 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 about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

To help support Team Jaime, log onto the team web page.

Riding high

Amber and Daniel Mollino.

In August 2011, Daniel Mollino was in Teaneck, NJ, making repairs to some overhead lines for the cable company he worked for when he fell about 20 feet, suffering a traumatic brain injury. He was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center, his life in danger. Miraculously, he survived, but with some long-term effects from the injury such as double vision, loss of hearing in his right ear and continuous pain. That, however, won’t prevent Daniel and his wife, Amber, both residents of Ringwood, NJ, from riding the 25-mile cycle course at Miles for Matheny on June 1. Matheny is special to the Mollinos because Amber’s brother, Chet Cheesman, lives in a Matheny community residence in Franklin Township, NJ, and has been a Matheny resident for more than 30 years.

Chet, Amber points out, has thrived at Matheny. “He’s always been involved in a lot of activities, particularly the Arts Access Program and its annual celebration, Full Circle. He’s always very positive, very happy.” Arts Access provides individuals who have disabilities the freedom to create in the visual, literary and performing arts. Chet’s outlook on life, given his disability, was perhaps a help to Amber as her husband was recovering from his accident. “Our daily lives have taken a turn from the way they were before,” she says, “but when you live with someone who has to deal with personal struggles every day, you realize the small stuff doesn’t matter.”

As a regular cyclist, Daniel has discovered a product called Elete, a liquid additive that athletes add to their water bottles to replenish electrolytes in the body. He has arranged for the company to provide 500 individual Elete dispensers for the cyclists and runners at Miles for Matheny. Thank you, Daniel!

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

For more information or to register, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260. To support Daniel and Amber’s fundraising team, TBI to Victory, visit www.milesformatheny.org/TBI_to_Victory.

Chet Cheesman performing at Full Circle, the annual celebration of Matheny’s Arts Access Program.

The bottom line

Fat Bottom Girls cycling group from last year’s Miles for Matheny. From left, David and Fran Graham, Bethlehem Twp., NJ; Nora Godown, Chester, NJ; Jill Reuter, Nazareth, PA; Meg and Steve Slutter, Clinton Twp., NJ. Jill, Nora and Meg are sisters.

The Fat Bottom Girls Biking Club is back for a second year at Miles for Matheny. Last year, four members rode the 25-mile route, and two members did the 10-mile ride. “What I liked best about the event was its personal feel and the scenic route we rode on,” says Nora Godown of Chester, NJ. “Of course, most importantly, we all enjoyed supporting Matheny. This year, I’m looking forward to the same beautiful scenery with perhaps more Fat Bottoms riding with us. I also love seeing the Matheny students enjoying themselves and just being stars at the event.”

Godown first became familiar with Matheny when she moved to Chester and brought birthday cupcakes through the Chester Newcomers Club. “Later, my daughter volunteered at Matheny in the evenings,” she recalls. “Before becoming volunteers, my daughter and I took a tour, and I can honestly say I have never been more impressed! We were stunned by what we heard of the programs offered there and by the facility itself.”

This year, the Fat Bottom Girls have formed a team page on the Miles for Matheny website, with a fundraising goal of $2,000. All funds raised at Miles for Matheny help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best medical, dental and therapy care possible. Peapack-Gladstone Bank is the cycling sponsor. Other major sponsors are the Poses Family Foundation, the Golub family, Partlow Insurance, 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 about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

To help support the Fat Bottom Girls, log onto http://www.milesformatheny.org/fatbottomgirls.


Team Pfizer supports Miles

Adam Schwab with Matheny adult resident Dion Alston.

Adam Schwab usually runs the 5K race at Miles for Matheny, the annual running, walking and cycling fundraiser and community event being held Sunday, June 1 at Liberty Park in Peapack, NJ. Now he’s on a mission to generate more support from colleagues at Pfizer Inc.’s Peapack site where he is a Manager and Principal Scientist in the Pfizer Global Supply group. His company has always strongly supported Miles,  helping the cause by allowing participants to park in its facility on the day of the event. But Schwab would like to see more volunteers and participants from Pfizer. He has created an online Pfizer team on the Miles for Matheny website (www.milesformatheny.org) with a fundraising goal of $2,000, and he recently visited Matheny to take an informal tour and gather up some promotional materials.

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 kids, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best medical, dental and therapy care possible. Major Miles sponsors are: 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 about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260. To help support Adam Schwab, log onto http://www.milesformatheny.org/Team_Pfizer.

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.

Lasting connection

Rich Schwenn, left, accompanying India Jones in the wheelchair walk at last year’s Miles for Matheny, along with, from left, Berkeley Heights, NJ, residents Frank Scacciaferro, Kevin Moore and Matheny occupational therapist Dominque Scacciaferro.

Rich Schwenn has been volunteering for 14 years at Mane Stream, an Oldwick, NJ-based organization that provides adaptive horsemanship and equine-assisted therapies for children and adults with special needs. Matheny brings students and adults to Mane Stream twice a year for spring and fall therapy sessions, and, about five years ago, Schwenn met Matheny student India Jones. “I sometimes act like a clown,” he confesses, “and India has a tendency to laugh very hard.” The chemistry between the two was instantaneous, and a couple of Matheny staff members suggested that Schwenn, a resident of Bogota, NJ, come to Matheny for a visit.

Says Schwenn: “I had noticed in some of the Matheny literature that the school encourages ‘friendly visits to a particular student,’ so I started coming about once a month to visit with India. In addition, I try to be there on special days such as Christmas and her birthday.” Bogota is about an hour’s drive away, but Schwenn also attends Matheny events such as the prom, held in Randolph, NJ, and Miles for Matheny, the annual fundraiser and community event held in downtown Peapack, NJ.

At this year’s Miles for Matheny, on June 1, Schwenn will be a walking partner for India in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, accompanied by his 15-year-old grandson Nicholas and 12-year-old granddaughter Olivia, who will be making the trip from Manahawkin, NJ. “They’ve heard about India,” he says, “and they’ve seen photos.” It’s important, he adds, for his grandchildren “to be in this environment, to learn that it’s not all about ‘you.’” As for his connection to Matheny, Schwenn says that “words cannot describe this experience. It’s an atmosphere that enriches me.”

For more information about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260. All funds raised will help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s kids, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best possible medical, dental and therapy care. Major Miles sponsors 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.

Rich Schwenn, right, with India Jones and physical therapy aide Erin McHugh.

Be a sponsor

Partlow Insurance sponsors the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk

Miles for Matheny, our annual fundraiser and community event, attracts about 1,500 people to downtown Peapack, NJ, to join in as walking partners in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, run in the 5K Road Race, ride in one of five cycling routes, race in the Kids Fun Run or cheer on the wheelchair participants.

All funds raised at Miles 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 medical, dental and therapy care possible.

You can help support this fundraising effort by being a Miles for Matheny sponsor. Sponsorship levels vary from a Premier Sponsorship at $25,000 to a Supporting Sponsorship at $500. For more information, contact Janice Kriegman at jkriegman@matheny.org, or call her at (908) 234-0011, ext. 315.

Major sponsors for this year’s Miles for Matheny include 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.

WCBS-TV’s Alex Denis was the official starter for both the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk and the 5K last year.

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