The Sarah Grace Foundation for Children With Cancer will present “An Evening of Magic” on Friday, April 10, featuring award-winning magician Will Fern. The benefit fundraiser dinner begins at 7 p.m. and will be held in the Philodendrum Room at the Milleridge Inn in Jericho.
Fern will perform his brand of high-energy “strolling magic” before dinner, working the room while interacting with guests at their tables. Following dinner, Fern will deliver his primary performance of world-class magic, mind reading and easy-going humor.
“It’s a great night of fun and laughter and community for an important cause,” said Matt Weippert, foundation president. “These fundraising events are crucial in providing the necessary funding for the many programs the foundation offers to children with cancer and their families. All of our programs are provided at no cost to the hospitals and families. We serve them through the generosity of our donors and we are humbly grateful for their contributions.”
The event marks the third edition of “An Evening of Magic,” the organization’s largest fundraiser of the year, after hosting a comedy show for its annual event for many years.
Named in honor of Sarah Grace Weippert of Hicksville, the Sarah Grace Foundation is an all-volunteer organization that has been supporting children with cancer and their families in the Long Island and New York City area since 2003.
Sarah Grace Weippert died at age 12 in 2002 after battling an extremely aggressive case of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Sarah Grace was a beautiful, fun loving 11-year-old who had just started to enjoy middle school when she was diagnosed with the disease.
To honor Sara’s memory, her parents, Marissa and Matt Weippert and her brother James, founded their organization.
While Sarah was sick, her parents stayed by her side each day and “were blessed to have an outpouring of community support,” they said. Grateful for the support, they also realized that not every family is as fortunate as they were to have that kind of assistance.
“Our grief, and all Sarah went through, had to stand for something. We decided it meant we had to do all we could to support other children with cancer and their families that were experiencing exactly what we had gone through,” Matt Weippert said. “The foundation is a mission of love for Sarah and a way of honoring and remembering our brave little girl. We drew strength from Sarah’s example throughout her illness and continue to do so as we move forward. Every time a person’s name is spoken, their memory, their life, and their spirit never die, and that is what the foundation represents.”
The foundation provides support to families through programs such as the Escape Hatch, the Bead Program, Gabe’s Chemo Duck and Sarah Grace’s Book Angels.
Coordinating with social workers at pediatric cancer centers such as Cohen Children’s Medical Center, NYU Langone Cancer Center for Kids, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Montefiore Hospital, New York-Presbyterian Hospital and more, the foundation is able to identify children and families most in need and provide financial aid, comfort and support for these children.
“Thanks to the generosity of our donors and their support, our core programs have been able to carry on,” Weippert said. “Additionally, we continue providing financial aid for meals, transportation, household expenses, and funeral expenses when necessary. Until Sarah got sick, we never knew how many children were afflicted with cancer and how many local treatment facilities were necessary to care for them. We understand their pain and anxiety and have done all we can to ease that stress for more than 20 years.”
Weippert estimates that the foundation has been able to provide assistance to well over 2,000 families since it began.
Additionally, the foundation has been able to provide thousands of kids with book donations, arts and crafts supplies, and trick or treat bags at Halloween.
“We want to do everything we can to help the child alleviate their stress and pain, be it by providing a toy or fun experiences,” Weippert explained. “Our daughter, Sara, was very much into arts and crafts and books, and to honor her we send out seasonal crafts for different holidays throughout the year so that the kids in clinics can have a fun, creative outlet. Kids need to be kids, not patients in a hospital.”
Tickets are $125 per person and include dinner and the show, along with beer, wine, soda, coffee and dessert. Seating is limited so tickets must be purchased in advance. There will also be numerous raffle baskets and a 50/50 drawing. Tickets for the event can be purchased at thesarahgracefoundation.org. For more information, the foundation can be reached at (516) 433-9745.
