The Digest | New Jersey Magazine
Issue link: https://magazines.vuenj.com/i/1483108
e Michael Gerard Puharic Memorial Fund, known as Michael's Feat, started as a way to deal with grief and at the same time, help families who faced similar struggles and loss. "In that time of darkness and helplessness surrounding Michael's funeral, we announced we'd collect funds to bring car seats and clothing to parents who found themselves in hospitals with their children under unexpected circumstances. e charity started that simply," Dana says. She explains that aer Michael was born, the doctors knew he would not survive and allowed her and her husband to take him home for his final days. As he was premature, they had nothing prepared to accommodate a baby so friends, family, and staff at the hospital rallied to get them supplies. Dana never forgot how touched she was by this small gesture and was determined to pass it on. "It would have been easy to succumb to fears and curl up into a ball but I saw the love and kindness of those coming to our aid, and it helped me to keep going," she says. e $10,000 they collected at the funeral inspired Dana and Adam to keep working to have something wonderful in their son's name. ey organized and held a fundraiser behind their church that attracted a few hundred people that first year. Over the next years they added more church events, then wine tastings, and then an annual gala. Now the charity holds multiple events each year to raise funds to help families across a wide spectrum of needs. Direct assistance is provided through gi cards, gas cards, assistance with transportation and medical equipment, and food service through a partnership with Eat Clean Bro, which makes boxed meals and delivers them to hospitals. Indirectly, funds from Michael's Feat have gone towards the creation of family rooms and overnight rooms at area hospitals, designed to give stressed and grieving families a comfortable place to spend time with their child as well as with family members. "e rooms are designed to look like someone's bedroom, warm and comfortable, to make them feel safe," Dana says. Funds from Michael's Feat have also been used for hospital equipment—two head cooling units each costing more than $30,000 and two $40,000 Giraffe Omni-beds. VUE ON | CHARITY VUENJ.COM 63