Wayne girls help raise $52K in honor of Rocco Sivolella, teen who died of cancer
WAYNE — A group of local teenagers collected tens of thousands of dollars in memory of their friend, and they are pledging to sustain the charity drive for years to come.
What started as an homage to the late Rocco Sivolella in January 2023 has turned into an annual campaign to amass as much money as possible for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the largest organization in the world dedicated to blood cancer research.
Ainsley Phillips and Allison Roth, juniors at Wayne Valley High School, led a team that raised $52,810 for the global nonprofit during a seven-week crusade this winter.
“I tell them all the time — they’re an inspiration,” said Rocco’s mother, Paula Corrieri. “I wish there were more kids like them around, doing the good that they do.”
Rocco died of acute myeloid leukemia in May 2022, a month after his 15th birthday. He was a student-athlete at Wayne Valley.
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His memory endures through frequent tributes.
Football teams at Wayne Valley and its crosstown foe, Wayne Hills High School, set differences aside during their rivalry game to wear something orange — a color that signifies leukemia awareness. It is now a tradition.
Corrieri launched a college scholarship fund in her son’s name to give yearly awards to a student-athlete from each high school.
The idea to donate toward blood cancer research came directly from Rocco’s friends. Ainsley and Allison inherited the team from Jessica Cappadonna and Kiara Ferguson, who were in charge of it last year.
The teens organized multiple fundraisers, including a Valentine’s Day-themed sip-and-shop event at Uncorked Lounge & Wine Shop on Union Boulevard in Totowa.
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A “Flock Cancer” fundraiser added to their proceeds.
The teens bought pink plastic flamingos online and began a chain reaction by staking the exotic birds on someone’s front lawn during the night. That person paid $25 to the campaign to send the “flock” elsewhere, and so on.
“Being able to keep Rocco’s name around brings us closer together as a community,” said Allison, 17.
Rocco’s death was an “unimaginable” loss for the Wayne Valley student body, said Ainsley, 17, but supporting one another helps to ease that pain.
“Just to be able to do this — to play a little part in hopefully, one day, finding a cure,” Ainsley said. “I can’t explain it. It’s something that’s so special to me.”
According to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, someone in the U.S. dies from blood cancer every nine minutes.
Ainsley and Allison’s team was among 24 teams from North Jersey to participate in the winter charity drive. Collectively, the groups raised more than $1.5 million.
The teens were honored by the nonprofit at a recent gala at The Westin Governor Morris, a hotel on Whippany Road in Morristown. Corrieri was their guest that evening, but the girls delivered an unexpected gift before she left her apartment for the festivities.
It was a pair of flamingo-shaped balloons.
“They got me,” she said. “I didn’t expect it at all, but it was a lovely surprise.”
Philip DeVencentis is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: devencentis@northjersey.com
Remembering Rocco catalog
The scholarship fund just dropped a brand-new line of merch on its website at rememberingrocco.myshopify.com. Inventory includes hoodies, trucker hats and T-shirts in adult and youth sizes.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Wayne teens collect $52K in honor of their friend who died of leukemia
