Kortney Rose Foundation Makes its Sixth Annual Donation to Children’s Hospital

395

OCEANPORT – The Kortney Rose Foundation recently presented a $100,000 check to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It was the organization’s sixth annual donation from the foundation.
A total of $628,000 has been donated by the Kortney Rose Foundation since its inception in support of pediatric brain tumor research and in memory of Kortney, who died from a brain tumor in 2006.

Members of the Metedeconk River Yacht Club members, from left, Lisa Scott Brennan, Dawn Wagner and Colleen Van Pell; Kortney Rose Foundation founder Kristen Gillette and board member Nancy Phillips; and Newcomers’ Club of Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver and Shrewsbury members Grace Cashman and Jennifer Egan hold check to be donated to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia by the foundation. The amount raised was increased to $100,000 after the photo was taken. Missing from the photo is Lori Missing, fundraising vice president for the Newcomers’ Club.
Members of the Metedeconk River Yacht Club members, from left, Lisa Scott Brennan, Dawn Wagner and Colleen Van Pell; Kortney Rose Foundation founder Kristen Gillette and board member Nancy Phillips; and Newcomers’ Club of Rumson, Fair Haven, Little Silver and Shrewsbury members Grace Cashman and Jennifer Egan hold check to be donated to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia by the foundation. The amount raised was increased to $100,000 after the photo was taken. Missing from the photo is Lori Missing, fundraising vice president for the Newcomers’ Club.

“Although this was a challenging fundraising year with events cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy, we’re pleas­ed to see our support base growing geographically along with awareness about the severity and prevalence of pediatric brain cancer,” said Kristen Gillette, mother of Kortney and founder of the Kortney Rose Foundation. “We sincerely thank all of our donors for their generosity and hope for continued support in the coming year.”
Patrick Feeley, associate vice president of individual and principal giving at the Children’s Hospital of Phila­delphia Foundation said, “The Kortney Rose Foun­dation is among the largest contributors to pediatric brain tumor research at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They are taking us one more step closer to finding a cure.”
Members of the Mete­deconk River Yacht Club and the Newcomers’ Club were among the largest fundraisers for the 2012.
Notable corporate sponsors in 2012 included Les Friedland & Associates of Tinton Falls, Wealth Builders Funds of Little Silver, Mon­mouth Park of Oceanport, Wells Fargo of West Long Branch, ICAP of New York City and Pauline Poyner, Coldwell Banker of Rumson.
Another important sponsor is the Turning Point Restau­rant organization which will be hosting the next Kortney Rose Foun­dation fundraiser, Great Food for a Great Cause, at all Turning Point Restaurant locations on April 27-28. Information on restaurant locations is available at www.theturningpoint. biz/.
Kortney Rose Gillette was a vivacious 9-year-old girl with a winning smile and unparalleled zest for life. She loved playing with friends and animals (stuffed or real) and enjoyed school at Wolf Hill Elementary School in Ocean­port. This didn’t change even after her diagnosis of a terminal brainstem glioma. On April 27, 2006, four months after her diagnosis, Kortney lost her brave battle with this pediatric brain cancer.
The Kortney Rose Foun­dation was founded by Kortney’s mother to honor Kortney’s memory and celebrate her life. Brain tumors are the No. 1 solid tumor-related cause of death in children ages 20 and younger with more than 3,500 children diagnosed annually. The foundation was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 2007 to raise money for pediatric brain cancer research and has since supported the program at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia specifically its Large-Scale Genome Project and the new World Class Tissue Bank.