People Who Make a Difference

Going the extra mile for the students

DAVE BENJAMIN Pupils at the Clark Mills School, Manalapan, play instruments donated by the Manalapan-Englishtown Education Foundation, which is run by volunteers like Paul Sagnelli.

Paul Sagnelli helps ed. foundation achieve success after success

BY DAVE BENJAMIN

Staff Writer

MANALAPAN — He’s a man who gives and gives, and when he thinks he hasn’t anything left to give, he gives a little more.

Paul N. Sagnelli, 54, spends countless hours as president of the Manalapan-Englishtown Education Foundation (MEEF) and doesn’t get paid a dime. He’s the guy who can always be counted on to be there whenever needed.

"I do the coordinating [for the foundation]," Sagnelli said. "It’s a lot of work. It has turned out to be more than a 40-hour-a-week job."

Sagnelli became involved in the foundation after going to a PTA meeting in 1995 at the Milford Brook School. He said he was shooed away from the PTA meeting because he was the only male there. He was told to go to the meeting of a new foundation that was just getting started in the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District. It was there that Sagnelli joined MEEF, which was founded by Neil Herstik, Barbara Zagha, Bill Lewis and Mark Flamendorf.

"If it weren’t for those people, there wouldn’t be a foundation," Sagnelli said. "I especially admire Neil, a great guy, who got it started."

But in its early years the foundation had a hard time raising money through donations, Sagnelli said.

"People look at us as having money, [but] that’s not true," Sagnelli said. "Everybody [in Manalapan] doesn’t have a lot of money."

Sagnelli was inspired to make some changes when he joined his daughter, Montana, for a daddy-daughter date night in Freehold Township.

"The Freehold Township Recreation does this and not the schools," Sagnelli said. "They thought I was crazy when I suggested that the foundation do this, but they did it."

The first event was held at the Excelsior catering hall, Route 9, and approximately 450 people attended.

"We started to make money," Sagnelli said.

Sagnelli is not the type of person to sit down at a meeting and wait until the next meeting to get things done. He believes in pushing forward right away.

"Now MEEF has a daddy-daughter date event that sometimes goes up to 900 people on a couple of different nights, plus mommy and son, mommy and daughter, ladies’ night out, a sweetheart Valentine’s Day dance, family bowling and golf outings," Sagnelli said.

MEEF has raised over $200,000. In the past, grants have been given to several teachers to be used for classroom activities. Additionally, about $50,000 to $60,000 has been used to purchase musical instruments for the schools.

Wemrock Brook School was supplied with musical instruments to be used by all general music classes.

"Last year Clark Mills, Taylor Mills and Milford Brook schools were supplied with musical instruments," Sagnelli said. "We save $3,000 over what the school would have to spend."

Sagnelli said he goes directly to the company and frequently gets the items at cost below what the schools would have to pay.

It doesn’t stop there. Every classroom has a 27-inch color television set, a VCR and wall brackets for mounting the equipment.

In the past, the foundation also gave a limited number of scholarships to children, and then there is also direct involvement with the Manalapan-Englishtown regional schools.

"I go to all the schools," Sagnelli said. "I talk about being a New York City police officer. I wore plainclothes during most of my 10 years as an officer, until I got hurt and had to retire."

Add to that, Sagnelli visits Manalapan High School, goes to PTA meetings, attends bingo nights, and when Manalapan baseball was finished, he held his own summer baseball camp with 100 youngsters, two nights a week for two seasons.

"We didn’t make any money," Sagnelli said. "But it was a way to give back to the community and getting dads and moms involved in having a great time. I did basketball on the other two nights. My little boy, Dakota [now age 11] was that age, and it was a great success."

Other community experiences include mother-and-son bowling, father-and-son bowling, and mother-and-daughter bowling, with the bowling alley sold out three times. This year, family bowling was set for Dec. 12.

Sagnelli’s latest success is a MEEF ad journal with about 70 advertisements from local businesses, school information and a calendar to mark all the MEEF events.

"This book gets handed out at every party," Sagnelli said. "I will soon have stickers for every store that donated something to us. I tell people when they go into a store, thank the business owners for supporting us."

It’s not just about making money, it’s giving back to the community by bringing the community together, Sagnelli said, noting that the Samaritan Center has been added to the list of those who have been helped.

"That’s what the foundation has done in the last couple of years," said the president, as he listed the names of the present officers and board members: Thomas Carr, vice president; Rafaela J. Martinez, secretary; Raffaela Serrapica, treasurer; and MEEF board members Joseph Iantosca, James Mumolie, Peter Pizzimenti, David Rosen, Antoinette Vanderstar and Josephine Vitolo.

Branching out to lift spirits

of sick child

Raising funds for the schools and the community isn’t the only thing Sagnelli does in his "spare time."

"Now we’re doing a night out for a little [third-grade] boy with cancer, Jordan Pickus, 8," Sagnelli said. "His mom is the assistant principal at Wemrock Brook."

Sagnelli said the project was not a fund-raiser, but it’s being run through the foundation. As of now, there are approximately 900 people coming, to a "Support Jordan" night with the New Jersey Nets.

"Paul goes above and beyond," said Kim Pickus, Jordan’s mom. "When he gets something in his head, he has a mission, [whether it’s] working in the schools for the children or for the programs that he raises money to support.

"These are typically things our children would not have access to or wouldn’t be able to do."

Jordan is fighting a second round of cancer, explained the assistant principal. She calls Sagnelli "Jordan’s guardian angel."

"Jordan has dealt with a lot," Pickus said. "He was first diagnosed with cancer in kindergarten at age 6."

Pickus remembered that it was Presidents Day when Jordan was diagnosed during a well checkup.

"During the exam, the doctor found a hard spot on his right side," Pickus said.

After an X-ray, ultrasound and CAT scan, it was determined that it was Wilms tumor, a childhood form of kidney cancer. The tumor was removed during a 10-hour surgery and the doctors have given Jordan a 93 percent rate of success, Pickus said.

The family thought they were in the clear until May, when a reoccurrence was found in the right lung.

"At this point they give me a 50-50 [chance of] success [for my son]," Pickus said. "That will be about a year of chemotherapy and radiation.

"Jordan’s a good kid. Even undergoing treatments on his last day of radiation, he made sure that he made it to his last baseball game. He didn’t want to disappoint his team."

Last September, Jordan went into the hospital for an unscheduled visit.

"He was feeling very down," Pickus said. "Paul happened to be there and said we have to do something for him. We have to get him out of this rut."

Sagnelli, speaking to a group of parents at the Milford Brook School during Back to School Night, mentioned he was helping a boy who was sick.

"He had a ton of parents who came to him or called the next day with contacts," Pickus said. "[Together] they arranged for the mascot and team captain of the Somerset Patriots, a minor league baseball team, to come to the hospital and visit with Jordan. They brought Jordan an autographed Joe Torre ball and one [autographed] by Sparky Lyle, a former Yankee, and a whole big bag of stuff, which cheered him up."

Then Sagnelli had a contact who was able to get a signed Derek Jeter ball.

Jordan never used his Make A Wish Foundation wish because he didn’t want to be disappointed if Jeter couldn’t come.

With Sagnelli’s help, Jordan was also able to meet with members of the Giants football team. Recently, in conjunction with the New Jersey State Police, it was arranged to have Jordan go to Giant Stadium when the Giants were playing the Chicago Bears.

Jordan was driven onto the field during pregame warm-ups and met with Kurt Warner, the quarterback, and Jeff Feagles, the kicker. They talked to him, took pictures and threw balls to him. He was then taken for a ride over Manhattan in the State Police helicopter. It didn’t end there. After the game Jordan was taken into the tunnel, where he met the players and got their autographs.

There are truly good-hearted people in this world, Pickus said.

"People I don’t even know can’t do enough to help a little boy," said Jordan’s mom. "I know that Paul was amazed by the outpouring of kindness and generosity and the need of people to help others when they need to be helped."

Jordan is home today but is on a two-week protocol, two weeks home and three to five days in the hospital.

It’s tough on the family, Pickus said, and of course on Jordan.

"I am tired and [I] sleep a lot," Jordan said, "but I try to go to school when [I can]. When I’m home or in the hospital, I watch TV and play video games or read books by R.L. Stine or Roald Dahl."

Jordan thinks a lot about what he will be when he grows up, and just like many children his age, he wants to be a baseball player.

"I want to play baseball for the New York Yankees," Jordan said.

Jordan said his special visit from the Somerset Patriots "was cool. We talked about playing baseball and how my Little League team was doing."

When asked about Sagnelli, Jordan responded, "People like Paul are generous and thoughtful. The things Paul has done are fun and exciting. I look forward to them. He really knows how to make a little kid happy. I hope other kids have someone like Paul to make them feel good."