We are excited for the 2nd Annual Survival of the Mills on Sunday October 11, 2015 presented by Trident Multisport to benefit David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation. Our main event sponsor remains Ocean Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine Wellness Center in Manahawkin, NJ! Owners Kim & John Manzella and their staff have been ardent supporters of David’s Dream & Believe Cancer Foundation since the inception of the Foundation. We also want to thank our friend & Race Director Ross Reynolds at Trident Multisport for creating this unique, scenic and demanding race.
Please visit Survival of the Mills for more information about the race and to register for this incredible event!
Click on below attachment for more information regarding Sponsorship & Food/Drink opportunities. Please contact David Caldarella at david@davidsdreamandbelieve.org or Kim Manzella at kim@davidsdreamandbelieve.org to reserve your sponsorship!
“You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have!”
We held our 3rd Annual Island Gala “A Night on the Boardwalk”on Friday August 14th and it proved to be our most successful fundraiser to date with a NET of $94,577.43! Our Mega 50/50 Raffle Winners were Angela Monafo and Taryn Parascand (Congratulations!) but there’s no doubt that the real winners of the night were our patients and families affected by a cancer diagnosis! Thank you.
We do need to thank a few people that were instrumental in making our 3rd Annual Island Gala possible. That starts with our executive committee in charge of planning and sponsoring various aspects of this year’s event. The Reynolds Family, Reynolds Landscaping & Garden Shop, Steber Family, McCabe Family, Catherine Deely and Board of Director Members Kim Manzella & Dani Corso. This group started its’ planning/management efforts in January 2015 and continued right up until the last item was packed up around 2:00am Saturday morning! It takes a monumental effort from a dedicated team to pull off an event like this one and this group was simply amazing!
Our Host Venue for the 3rd year in a row was our friends at the Sea Shell Resort & Beach Club! Tom Hughes, Jaimee Boyle and Brittany Solon treat the entire planning process, meetings and night of the event as if it was a special party for a family member and for that we are eternally grateful. The resort is absolutely beautiful and the incredible staff make all of our guests feel like VIP’s!
Our sponsors play a critical role in the overall success of the Foundation being able to answer the increased number of patient requests. Thank you to our Cyclone $5,000.00 Sponsors: Reynolds Landscaping, Steber Family, McCabe Family, Informed Mortgage andAllied World Assurance Company. Reynolds Landscaping and the Steber family were also responsible for sponsoring this year’s amazing band Monte Carlo from Philadelphia. Thank you to our Himalayan $2,500.00 Sponsor: D. Finelli Construction and Congratulations to Dave and Laurie on the birth of their baby girl Lyla Marie. Thank you to our Carousel $1,000.00 Sponsors: Anderson Insurance Agency, G. Anderson Agency, Brandon Systems, Cosimano Family, Shannon Keyes DMD andZelus Consulting Group LLC.
Our Auctions are always top notch thanks to the efforts of Cathy Deely, Kim Manzella, Dani Corso, Sophia Steber, the Reynolds Family (Peg, Katie & Ashley) and our extremely generous local businesses that want to participate in our events. A special thanks to Kyle Baddorf Executive Chef at Garces Trading Co. for not only producing one very successful auction dinner but accepting to do 3 of them!!!
We would not be able to hold our events were it not for the tremendous support from our volunteers throughout the year especially at this Goliath of an event. A special thanks to Tony Coon, Ryan Johnson, John Manzella, Nick Staub, Lisa AndersonandJames Donahower.
Our guests (former and new) and everybody listed above demonstrated a genuine commitment to the mission of the Foundation and generosity of spirit that could only be described as inspirational! Our team from DDBCF walked away from this year’s Island Gala knowing that our Beacon of Hope will shine a little brighter for our patients/families affected by a cancer diagnosis thanks to all of you!
Mark your calendars now for the 4th Annual Island Gala on Friday August 5th 2016!
We need to start with our hosts, owners and friends of Mud City Crab House: Melanie & Eric Magaziner and Ginna, Brianna & Bob Nugent. Our friendship with this crew started almost 25 years ago and was reignited during the 2011 Jetty Coquina Jam. They have been faithful supporters of the Foundation since day one and are responsible for our second longest running event with Crabbin for a Cure. Melanie Magazineris going on her 3rd year as Vice President of David’s Dream & Believe and we appreciate the combined efforts from Melanie and Eric. Simply put, we would not have been able to assist the amount of families we have in the past 3.5 years without their support and friendship.
The Staff at Mud City Crab House is FAMILY! There are many reasons for the long waits to eat at this local landmark since the Magaziner and Nugent families opened the doors. However, we believe the amazing staff is tied at the top of that list with the incredible food. This amazing staff has volunteered their time and donated their tips back to the Foundation every year!
Our 4th Annual Crabbin for a Curedid not have an auction this year and there was a very good reason for that. Crabbin for a Cure has been a locals event since year one. It allows for local business owners and families to join together for a relaxing dinner with amazing friends after a long and very busy summer. We value and appreciate the continued efforts throughout the year from those same local businesses and local families that allow us to carry out the mission of the Foundation. We want our supporters to know you mean the world to us!
Crabbin for Cure was created during a lunch meeting between Melanie, Eric, David and Jeremy from Jetty. We want to thank all of our sponsors starting with our longest local sponsor Jetty. Thank you: Jackie & Bill McCabe, Ocean Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine Wellness Center, Sally’s Shrimp & Seafood, Panzone’s Pizza, Reynolds Landscaping, Anderson Insurance Agency, Thomas V Massa DMD & Associates, Walt McCollum Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, Price Home Group, Art Puzziferro Builder, The Ruemeli Family, Ann Coen Photography, Speakeasy Pizzeria, Tuckerton Lumber Co. and Potts Excavating!
A special thank you to Kerry Beetel and his students from Piece of the Puzzle for making and donating the yummy homemade ice cream for dessert!
It’s always difficult to come up with the words to describe a new event because you cannot just say, “You had to be there.” It feels like we’ve been saying that a lot lately with last weekend’s Sing for Hope and now today’s Survival of the Mills! We try to maintain a healthy balance of diverse events so there is something for everybody while not wearing out our welcome. We are always mindful that your support comes directly from your hard work and we NEVER take that for granted!
Survival of the Mills was created by my friend and our race director Ross Reynolds. Ross and I had a conversation about doing an event together about a year ago when I saw Ross and his wife Marissa having dinner at Mud City Crab House. 12 months of planning and hard work by Ross resulted in an amazing day for the participants. Ross worked so hard on every aspect of this event to ensure it ran smoothly, was challenging and safe for everybody, and the participants all had fun. Mission accomplished! Thank you so much Ross!
However, Ross and I both know that an event like this one does not just happen without the incredible efforts from a Team of Volunteers! Since our inception as a Foundation in 2010, we have maintained that our David’s Dream & Believe volunteers are simply the best and today only confirmed that fact. Not only do we preach to the public that we have the best volunteers but we practice what we preach. President Tim Hall volunteered all weekend helping with set-up and breakdown in between competing and placing 16th overall in the triathlon! Our secretary Kelly Powers competed in the 5K today! Our event Directors and Survival of the Mills Sponsor Kristin Panzone and Jillian Elsasser (Panzone’s Pizza) and communications Director Danielle Corso managed the cycling turnarounds! Our youth Director and Main Event Sponsor Kim Manzella (Ocean Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine Wellness Center) and her family managed the water stations! Our Directors serve the Foundation on a completely volunteer basis and their efforts are extraordinary on a daily basis not just event days! Thank you!
