They called it Fun Day, because its intent was for a fun time to be had by all. Volunteer mission accomplished.
About 75 students from the Harbor School in Eatontown and the Sister Georgine School in Ewing were invited to Middletown's Mater Dei Prep High School yesterday, where they were guests of honor at a Fun Day party.
The students, who have a range of disabilities including Down syndrome and autism, enjoyed fun activities including shooting hoops, parachute games, a moon bounce, sand art and dancing. The event was held in Mater Dei's gymnasium, Memorial Hall.
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Mater Dei sophomore and Merit Scholar Taralynn Vecchio came up with the idea for Fun Day and did most of the planning, along with some other merit scholar students.
"I like to volunteer, I just love to do it and make people happy," said Vecchio, who learned to love making people with learning disabilities happy last summer when she volunteered to play games and surf with them at the beach in a program called Best Day.
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"There's not many opportunities for disabled kids to get out and have fun," she said. "So we did this."
Mater Dei is touted as a community-oriented school that sponsors a variety of fundraisers and special projects hosted by student and faculty volunteers.
"There's at least one project going on a week," said Vecchio. "It's very family-oriented, we all help each other out."
Dozens of other Mater Dei students volunteered to help out at Fun Day, serving the guests snacks, helping them shoot a basket, and joining elbows in goofy dances.
More than 30 local businesses were also happy to help out and make Fun Day a reality. DJ Cisco Disco donated his time to play some tunes as students ate pizza donated by Middletown Pizza and Tre Colore Pizzeria and enjoyed doughnuts and coffee from Dunkin Donuts.
American Bounce Factory provided cotton candy and snow cone machines for free and gave a $200 discount on a giant inflatable Bounce House, and state Senator Joseph Kyrillos paid the balance. Vecchio's friend Ryan Molicki entertained visitors in a giant Scooby Doo costume donated by the Costume Shop in Keyport.
"I helped her with whatever she needed help with, but the kids did all the organizing of the sponsors. They were great," said Colleen Vecchio, Taralynn's mom, who is a Physical Education teacher at Mater Dei.
Some of the visiting kids, who ranged in age from 7 to 21, went home with sand art and temporary tattoos, or blue tongues from snow cones. All of them went home with great memories.
"Today is nice. I'm having tons of fun with my friends," said John Allendes, a 21-year-old from Sister Georgine School. "I'm a cool guy and this is cool."
