Community Corner

Hundreds to Ride in 5-Year-Old Girl's Memory

Brooke Healey, whose father is a teacher and coach at Madison High, died in September from a rare brain tumor.

Hundreds of community members rallied last year to support a 5-year-old girl's battle with a rare brain tumor and now 300 bikers are getting ready to ride in her memory.

New Providence's Brooke Healey, whose father, Steve, is a teacher and coach at Madison High School, lost her nine-month fight with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma on Sept. 9, 2013. DIPG is an inoperable, aggressive tumor in the middle of the brain stem.

Bikers for Brooke, a fundraising event that benefits The Brooke Healey Foundation, will ride Saturday in her honor.  Registration begins at 10 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at Our Lady of Peace Church at 111 South St. in New Providence. There will be a blessing of the bikes at 11:45 a.m. and the ride begins with "kickstands up" at noon.

The 45-mile route will travel through New Providence into Chatham and Madison, including riding past Madison High, and then into Morris Township and down Route 202 into Somerset County before ending in Berkeley Heights. There will be a family BBQ picnic from 2 to 4 p.m. at Mt. Carmel Hall at 56 River Road in Berkeley Heights.

For more information, visit The Brooke Healey Foundation's website.


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