News & Stories
Cooper Foundation receives $15K from the Sarah Tarditi Gallagher Memorial Fund
For 17 years, Cooper Foundation board member Jack Tarditi and his wife Barbara have honored the legacy of their daughter, Sarah Tarditi Gallagher whom they lost to leukemia after a three-year battle when she was just 31 years old, through the STG Memorial Golf Tournament.
Determined to keep Sarah’s spirit alive, a close friend, Dean Smith, approached her parents with the idea of hosting a fundraiser in her memory. The STG Memorial Golf Tournament was born, dedicated to supporting patients and families facing similar challenges.
The Sarah Tarditi Gallagher (STG) Memorial Golf Tournament has raised more than $1 million since it began, with all proceeds benefiting leading non-profit organizations in South Jersey and the surrounding region that are dedicated to cancer care.
The Cooper Foundation gratefully received a $15,000 donation from the STG Memorial Fund. This generous contribution was directed to the MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper’s “Patient in Need” Fund.
This fund provides small financial assistance to cancer patients facing employment gaps, insurance challenges, and other hardships. It offers small grants for transportation, utility bills, prescription co-pays, and essentials, serving as a last resort when other support is exhausted. It also helps women in treatment afford wigs and cosmetic support.
Jack and Barbara are highly respected community leaders and long-standing supporters of Cooper University Health Care. In addition to their continued generosity toward MD Anderson at Cooper, they also sponsor the annual Cooper Nursing Excellence Awards, which honor the dedication and outstanding care provided by Cooper’s nursing staff.
“Our connection with Cooper has deepened over the years,” said Jack. “Barbara and I are involved in many cancer-related initiatives, and MD Anderson at Cooper has truly elevated cancer care in our region by partnering with top specialists and offering comprehensive support services to enhance the well-being of our community.”
In explaining their commitment to the community, Jack summed it up like this: “We believe that we should put back into the well to replenish it for all the world has done for us.”
