South Jersey cornhole fundraiser supports rare childhood cancer research
Thirty cornhole teams will chase cash and trophies in Sewell while raising money for rare childhood cancer research and the Fitzgerald family.
Thirty cornhole teams will take over the Washington Township Youth Football Complex in Sewell on Saturday, June 27, as Cornhole for Cole runs from 6:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at 204 East Holly Avenue, Sewell, NJ 08080-2641. Entry is set at $60 per person or $120 per team of two, and each team will be guaranteed four games, with cash prizes for first place and trophies awarded through fourth place.
The tournament will benefit Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s Fightin Fitzgeralds Fund to Cure Rare Cancer, putting the competition to work for pediatric cancer support and research. Organizers are framing the night as a tribute to all childhood cancer warriors in the fight and a memorial to Cole Fitzgerald and Briana Friel, giving the event a purpose that reaches far beyond the boards.
Cole Fitzgerald’s story gives the fundraiser its urgency. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation says he was nearly 3 years old when he was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma, and that he was given weeks to live at diagnosis. He later faced pancreatoblastoma, a cancer documented only about 50 times, and learned he had Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, a cancer predisposition syndrome. Cole died on Dec. 15, 2023.
The Fitzgerald name already carries weight in Washington Township football circles. Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has identified Cole as a student assistant coach for Washington Township Youth Football, and annual awards named for him have been established at both the youth football and high school levels. A 2025 event page for Team Theresa’s second annual Cornhole for Cole also showed how the family’s charity events have blended sports with a broader family atmosphere, with live music, raffles, kids’ crafts, superheroes, face painting, lemonade and cornhole all part of the same gathering.
The medical backdrop explains why a local tournament can matter so much. Cooper University Health Care says a rare cancer is one diagnosed in fewer than six people per 100,000 each year, yet rare cancers account for about one in five U.S. cancer diagnoses. With MD Anderson at Cooper serving South Jersey, the fundraiser connects a summer Saturday in Sewell to the rare, costly and deeply personal fight faced by families dealing with childhood cancer.
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