Teen’s memorial walk yields record funds for cancer research

by Debra Rubin
Special to NJ Jewish News

With a record 2,000 walkers stepping off June 4 for the fifth annual Michelle Offsie Memorial Walk for Hope, it appears that the 16-year-old girl who began the fund-raiser as a bat mitzva project will also bring in a record amount of funds for breast cancer research.

Janna Zuckerman of Edison previously raised about $250,000 for City of Hope, a biomedical research, treatment, and educational institute conducting breast cancer research, since beginning the walkathon in honor of Michelle Offsie, a close family friend.

The walk stretches from the Jewish Community Center of Middlesex County in Edison to Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen. Offsie was the bookkeeper at the JCC, and died from the disease almost five years ago at age 46.

Last year the four-mile trek from the JCC on Oak Tree Road to the Grove Avenue synagogue raised $113,000 with 1,500 participants. City of Hope officials said a final tabulation of the results would not be available until about a week after the walk, after NJ Jewish News had gone to press.

“Everybody definitely thought this was the most organized walk yet,” said Janna. “We had a lot more kids and participation. I got all positive feedback.”

The event has grown to be one of City of Hope’s largest suburban walks in the country, said Harry Giordano, senior director of development for the organization’s Philadelphia office, which oversaw the walk.

“The funny thing is it has gotten larger with young people, which is largely unheard of,” he added. “I would say 80 percent of those walking were under 21, which was really kind of inspiring to see so many teenagers. It was really so lovely.”

An affiliated walk was held May 31 around the track at Marlboro High School, in which 100 people, mostly students, raised $2,700, which was turned over to Janna for City of Hope. That walk was organized by Ian Targovnik, a junior at the school whose family belongs to the Marlboro Jewish Center.

“It was a social thing, as well as raising money for a good cause,” said Ian, who took over the Marlboro walk from his older sister, Alyssa — a friend of Janna — who ran it for the previous two years but is now at college. “Last year I helped her, and this year I kind of took over the reins.”

The walk was publicized through a billboard and fliers at the school and through its peer leadership program. For Ian, the son of Nan and Harris Targovnik, taking on the event has special meaning.

“My mom, when I was younger, had breast cancer so it’s kind of a personal thing with me to raise money and help find a cure,” he explained. “I worked with the adviser from the peer leadership program at my school. I spoke in different classes, and we just tried to reach as many kids as possible. I absolutely plan to continue this next year as a senior and hope to pass this on to someone else or the peer leadership group when I graduate.”

Janna is a junior at J.P. Stevens High School in Edison and incoming copresident of her United Synagogue Youth chapter at Neve Shalom.

The walk was supported by Neve Shalom and the Community Campus — home to the JCC and the YMCA of Metuchen-Edison — which, in addition to allowing its facilities to be used, provided support staff and transportation for those who couldn’t do the whole walk.

Giordano, who manned the registration tent, said he was taken aback as he watched the walkers. “To see eight people across walking for an entire half-mile was awe-inspiring,” he remarked. “I have been at City of Hope 10 years and I don’t impress easily, but this was truly impressive. It is a tribute to Janna and April Barnes, our Philadelphia office event coordinator, but mostly to Janna and her family.

“The Zuckerman family are powerhouses. Janna and [her parents] Howard and Karen are extraordinary. I’ve never dealt with anyone like them and I deal with hundreds of volunteers. For example, they gave up their whole Memorial Day weekend holiday to call participants from last year to ask them to come again.”

Karen Zuckerman said the walk had a two-pronged positive effect.

“Not only did it raise money for breast cancer research, but it brought together the whole community — young adults, children, and older adults — all walking together for a good cause,” she noted. “We united the community to fight breast cancer and to honor our friend Michelle Offsie. We think what Janna has done is fantastic, and my husband and I certainly are very proud of her.”

Janna oversees a committee she organized, made up of adults and young people from schools throughout the area. As chair of the growing committee, she deals each year with business executives, adults, youngsters, and members of chambers of commerce.

The walk featured corporate sponsorship, an international food display donated by area restaurants, and a representative from Z-100 radio in New York, which provided music for the third year in a row.

Restaurant tents created a veritable international food court. As in the past, a significant amount of leftover food was donated to Elijah’s Promise soup kitchen in New Brunswick and the Mandy Reichman Feeding Program at Temple Emanu-El in Westfield, which prepares about 800 sandwiches per week to feed the hungry in Elizabeth. This year food was also given to the United Way of Essex County, which distributed it to three food pantries.

“As was Janna’s wish, we collected packaged food the week before to also donate to the poor,” explained Karen Zuckerman. “We gave Elijah’s Promise a whole van full of food. This has always been her goal.”

Three years ago, Janna received the Prudential Spirit of Community Award, presented in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals. She was one of two winners selected from among 24,000 applicants for her efforts on the two previous walks.

She is vice president of her high school’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America Club and recently received a gold award from the Girls Scouts for her volunteer Work at Whispering Knolls Assisted Living.

Karen Zuckerman also said her daughter’s experience in organizing the walks have led her to want to make human services her career.

Giordano was open to that.

“Her efforts are easily the most amazing thing I have ever seen,” he said. “I told her she has to come to work for City of Hope as a fund-raiser. I’d hire her in a New York second.”

Donations are still being accepted.