Text for 10:  Ten Friends, Ten Dollars, Tremendous Impact

Photo Caption:  Judy Zocchi and Olivia Questore at press conference 12/12/07

How can texting a friend raise significant funds to help patients and families battling brain tumors?  The answer is simple for Judy Zocchi, the driving force behind Text for 10, a unique fundraising event to benefit Monmouth Medical Center’s David S. Zocchi Brain Tumor Center, and her junior counterpart and event Co-Chair, Olivia Questore, now 16.

In 2007, Zocchi had just learned to text. Questore, like all teens and tweens today, could nimbly text like the best of them.  So what brought the CEO of a multi-media company and the middle school student together to devise what is one of the most innovative fundraisers in Monmouth Medical Center history?  While they would appear to be unlikely partners at first, their shared experience of losing a loved one to a brain tumor and their passion to make a difference for future patients and families made them a formidable team.

The David S. Zocchi Brain Tumor Center at Monmouth Medical Center

Determined to create a comprehensive treatment and support system to help others cope with the disease, Judy Zocchi dedicated the David S. Zocchi Brain Tumor Center at Monmouth Medical Center in memory of David S. Zocchi, her late husband who fought a courageous five-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer.  The Center was opened in 2007, only 20 months after his passing and as a result of an ambitious fund-raising campaign she spearheaded. The Center is the first facility in central and southern New Jersey and one of three in the state offering a multidisciplinary approach for leading-edge treatment of primary and metastatic tumors of the central nervous system.

The David S. Zocchi Brain Tumor Center, under the direction of a board certified neuro-oncologist, includes a team whose members represent a broad range of specialized fields to provide a full spectrum of comprehensive services to treat benign and malignant tumors originating in the brain and spinal cord, as well as neurological complications of cancer that has spread to other regions of the body.  In addition to providing the best clinical management and treatment options for brain tumor patients, the Center focuses on research programs and enhancing the quality of life of patients and their families by addressing their multidimensional needs, which include physical, social/family, emotional, functional, cognitive and spiritual dimensions.

Before the opening of the Center, Zocchi held focus groups to give brain tumor patients and families the opportunity to provide their input on services that would be provided.  It was there that she met Joseph and Cheryl Questore.  At that time, Joseph was battling brain cancer.  He lost his battle with the disease in February 2007, a few months before the Center opened.  Zocchi and Cheryl Questore continued their friendship and participated in the bereavement support groups that were provided by the Center.  Questore often told Zocchi that her then 14-year old daughter, Olivia, had expressed an interest in volunteering and in helping other families in some way.  Zocchi proposed her concept of Text for 10 and Olivia Questore ran with it, becoming Zocchi’s co-chair.

Zocchi was on to something so simple, yet really big.  Together with her teen counterpart, she developed an event that engaged teenagers and their tween siblings and friends, by asking them to do something they do all the time – text their friends.  The only difference was that this text message was not about what movie they would like to see over the weekend; it was about something much more – donating $10 to make a difference in the life of someone who was or will be affected by a brain tumor.  For the approximate price of a movie ticket, they would join together and make tens of thousands of dollars as well as fundraising history.

Questore talked up the fundraiser at her school and soon teams were formed there and at schools throughout the region. Enlisting the support of other teens who had also been affected by brain tumors, she helped form the event committee. While Questore and the teen committee worked on spreading word about the event and developing teams, Zocchi worked on gaining corporate support.

SurfTaco, a major corporate sponsor of the event, provided a kick off party with donated food and offered another party as a prize for the highest fundraising teams.  They donated 20 percent of their customer’s sales for weeks leading up to it, which also raised awareness about the event and the Brain Tumor Center.  SurfTaco also allowed five of their restaurant sites in Monmouth and Ocean counties to be used as home base for the texting event.  The restaurants were filled with “texters,” family members, supporters and media with event committee members at each site to coordinate the simultaneous texting time. And probably, most importantly, Zocchi noted that SurfTaco gave Text for 10 the “cool factor” with teens and tweens.  As a place they often frequented, it added even more star power to this already enticing event, as did the donated prizes by MTV.  Corporate support also included Central Jersey Bank’s donation of tellers and counting machines for “Bank Day,” a designated day and time for participants to turn in their donations, as well as a multitude of local businesses who donated dollars and prizes to be distributed to the texting teams raising the most money.

On February 28, 2008, numerous teams of 10, gathered at different SurfTaco locations throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties, simultaneously texted 10 friends for $10. The event raised $50,000 in less than 10 minutes.

Funds raised from the 2008 Text for 10 event were used to purchase two operating room high definition monitors for Monmouth Medical Center’s neurosurgery team as well as to provide programmatic services for Brain Tumor Center patients and families such as Art is Good, a collaborative effort between Zocchi and SurfTaco house artist Tim Kelly.  Art is Good is a free, beginner art workshop for families with an immediate member who has either been diagnosed with or passed away from a brain tumor.  These classes are offered to create an opportunity to socialize with others with similar experiences.  Art is Good  is not therapy, but a forum for expression either through creativity, friendship, or just being.  Students are invited to bring a friend and a social worker is available at classes for families that would like counseling.

On October 28, 2008, the lobby of Monmouth Medical Center was transformed into an art gallery displaying the work of students from the year’s Art is Good classes.  The evening brought together Brain Tumor Center families, Text for 10 committee members, hospital administrators, trustees and Brain Tumor Center physicians and staff as well as the general community, once again raising awareness of brain tumors and of the tremendous impact of the Text for 10 event.

On May 12, 2009, the Text for 10 committee, just one year older, but a whole lot savvier in terms of fundraising know-how, held their second Text for 10 event.  This second event also used social media to attract support and added a “College Tour” which was chaired by the college student daughter of a brain tumor patient.

Text for 10 is now an annual fundraiser for programmatic needs of the Brain Tumor Center.  Once again, Art is Good classes are being held as a result, and children, adolescents and adults alike are creating more art and participating in a special project called The Puzzle Project, a continually growing and traveling group art exhibition created by the artist Tim Kelly.  The Puzzle Project not only provides a platform for expression for brain tumor patients and families, but also provides funds for the David S. Zocchi Brain Tumor Center through the requested donation to participate in the art exhibit.

Judy Zocchi, Olivia Questore and the Text for 10 Committee are an extraordinary example of volunteer leadership, innovation and dedication.  In addition to raising significant funds, the event raises awareness, inspires a diverse group of people, and introduces young people to the rewarding experience of philanthropy.

“This is so much more than a fundraiser to me.  It’s a chance for me to help other families.  When my Dad died I had just turned 14, I was in 7^th grade and just entered middle school.  If you ask me what happened that year in my life I couldn’t tell you because the only things I remember are the absolutely horrible things.  Now I’m my outgoing, fun, dancing, acting self but there is still that impact on my life from those 18 months that we all were consumed trying to help my Dad.  Going through that experience, I can now help these kids and their family members, with the help of the Brain Tumor Center, whether its art therapy classes or anything else that will help them get through, plus it’s definitely what my father would have wanted.” – Olivia Questore

Sign up now and join hundreds of teens who are competing to raise money for the David S. Zocchi Brain Tumor Fund. After a 6 week competition participants  will Text for 10 at  a mega celebration hosted by Surf Taco simultaneously taking place at several locations  throughout the Jersey Shore. College students have  also taken the lead to join the festivities by organizing “Text for 10 the College Tour” ending with a bash featuring several bands at Surf Taco in Jackson –also on March 25th.

Compete to win great prizes including scholarships from Central Jersey Bank, a Surf Taco party for 30, flat screen TV and much more.

Text for Ten funds programs to support patients and families treated at the David S Zocchi Brain Tumor Center –located in Monmouth Medical Center,Long Branch,NJ –as well as  innovated programing made available to the brain tumor community at large. In addition, the funds will support national advocacy efforts to encourage the investigation of the lifestyle and environmental causes of brain tumors.

Sign your team up now!

Download your forms here.

The Facts

The Facts

Save the Date:

When: Thursday, February 4th 2010
Where: SurfTaco Belmar, 1003 Main Street, Belmar NJ
Time: 6:00 PM

For more information: 732.870.6085 or email us at info@textfor10.com