On Friday, Feb. 23, the First Day of School Foundation will host its 4th Hearts For Eli gala at the Eagle Oaks Golf and Country Club in Farmingdale.
The event will have hors d’oeuvres, open bar, three-course dinner, and music by The Heartbeats. Tickets are $85 for adults and $25 for children 4-15.
There will also be raffle. In the past, prizes including Jet Blue tickets, Disney passes, Yankees, Eagles and Giants gear and signed items, a golf foursome at Baltusrol, tool sets, cameras and local restaurant and vendor gift cards.
The event is in honor of Eli Waller, the Hamilton 4-year-old who was the first person in the United States to die from Enterovirus D-68. In the days after his Sept. 2014 death, Eli grabbed the attention of people in Hamilton and around the world. The First Day of School Foundation, which was formed in his memory, raised $25,000 in the three days after Eli’s father Andy announced it, first to a room filled with media members in Hamilton and later that day to a worldwide television audience on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360.
Hearts For Eli helps the foundation continue its mission of providing finanical assistance to local special education departments. The First Day of School Foundation launched its Special Classroom Sponsorship Program in 2017, which provided grants to nominated classrooms that serve students with special education needs. The foundation sent out 30 separate $1,000 grants, mostly to schools New Jersey. It received well over 100 requests for funding. With the foundation’s funds going to schools, it relies on sponsors to help throw the gala.
For more information, go online to firstdayofschoolfoundation.org.
