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E
winning the battle
SON STARTS NONPROFIT TO HONOR HIS LATE MOTHER
than Sandlofer, 10, turned
a tragic experience into
testimony that you can
accomplish great things
when you put your mind to it
– no matter how old you are.
The Saddle River resident, under the
guidance of his father Jason Sandlofer
and with help from his friends, created
E’s Battle Buddies – Kids Fighting Can-
cer, a charity affiliated with Hackensack
University Medical Center that raises
money for rare cancer research and
those going through the illness.
“I started this charity because when
I was 2 years old my mom Gaby passed
away from a rare cancer called Angio-
sarcoma,” Ethan says. “I don’t want
kids to lose their parents when they’re
young and not be with their parents for
the rest of their lives.”
Ethan participated in other
cancer fundraisers and
eventually decided
he wanted to start
his own.
“We always wanted to do something
in her memory but nothing was the
right fit,” he says. “It’s not fair that
adults get to do something to fight
against cancer and me and my
friends can’t.”
A simple decision turned into an
incredible undertaking. But success did
not happen overnight. Getting approved
to be a nonprofit 501(c)(3) took more
than a year and involved a lot of work.
Ethan was involved every step of the
way.
Eventually a fundraising website was
created, including a platform allowing
kids to have their own page that they
can share with friends and family for
support. Ethan also weighed in on the
look of the website, helping it to reflect
his personality.
An additional challenge was getting
people to register.
“It’s good to register early for many
reasons,” Ethan says. “It provides a
longer runway to collect donations.
Planning an event is extremely difficult,
so getting an idea of how many
participants is extremely important.”
E’s Battle Buddies recently hosted a
fundraiser at Lifetime Athletics in Mont-
vale. Total Entertainment supplied the
DJ, emcee, lighting and “other fun and
exciting things to make the event that
much better,” he says. His aunt Corey
was instrumental in putting everything
together to ensure the day flowed seam-
lessly. And although Ethan initiated the
fundraiser, he says “it is definitely a
community event!”
To date, the charity has reached its
goal of $20,000 with donations still
coming in.
“The support from family and friends
has been indescribable,” Ethan says.
“We’ve received so many emails, texts
and calls letting us know how great
they think this is and how it’s positively
impacting their kids.”
“E’s Battle Buddies is an extension of
us,” Jason Sandlofer says. “We didn’t
know when we were starting this that
it was going to turn into something so
amazing, but the motivation and sense
of pride is hard to put into words.
Finding a cure motivates us to keep
pushing.”
Ethan agrees. “Me and my buddies
can help save lives,” he says, “so people
can be with their families.” ●
– DEIRDRE FLANAGAN WARD
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