John Theurer Cancer Center receives donation from AV Hero Fund

Photo Courtesy of Sheri Hensley The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, a member of Hackensack Meridian Health, recently received a check for $30,000 from the AV Hero Fund, which represents a portion of the proceeds from the organization’s inaugural golf outing. From left are Angelo Vayas’ sons Aris and Joseph Vayas; Dr. George J. Kaptain, surgical director of the Brain and Spine Institute at the John Theurer Cancer Center; wife Mary Vayas; Dr. Samuel A. Goldlust, medical director of the Brain and Spine Institute; and son Antonio Vayas. — Photo Courtesy of Sheri Hensley
The John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, a member of Hackensack Meridian Health, recently received a check for $30,000 from the AV Hero Fund, which represents a portion of the proceeds from the organization’s inaugural golf outing. From left are Angelo Vayas’ sons Aris and Joseph Vayas; Dr. George J. Kaptain, surgical director of the Brain and Spine Institute at the John Theurer Cancer Center; wife Mary Vayas; Dr. Samuel A. Goldlust, medical director of the Brain and Spine Institute; and son Antonio Vayas.

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — On June 13, the AV Hero Fund, created to honor the memory of Angelo Vayas, held its inaugural golf outing at the Maplewood Country Club. A portion of the proceeds was recently presented to the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center, a member of Hackensack Meridian Health.

Vayas, a longtime Maplewood resident and owner of the Village Trattoria restaurants, was a patient of the Brain and Spine Institute at the John Theurer Cancer Center at HackensackUMC.

“The AV Hero Fund was created to carry on Angelo’s legacy as a philanthropic community leader,” Mary Vayas, Angelo’s wife, said in a press release. “My husband loved golf and it became his respite and opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends. A golf outing in his honor helps us raise awareness for glioblastoma, the brain cancer that took his life much too soon. We are proud to announce that a portion of the proceeds in the amount of $30,000 will benefit the Caroline Vandemark Fund for Brain and Spine Tumor Research at HackensackUMC.”

“We are honored by the generosity of the Vayas family,” Dr. Samuel Goldlust, medical director of the Brain and Spine Institute at the John Theurer Cancer Center and a doctor to Vayas, said in a release. “Grassroots efforts in our community have a tremendous impact on our ability to provide cutting-edge care, such as our clinical trials programs in immunotherapy and viral mediated gene therapy.”

“It was a privilege to care for Angelo, and to honor his determination and fighting spirit in our shared vision of a cure for glioblastoma,” Dr. George Kaptain, surgical director of the Brain and Spine Institute, added.

With such an outpouring of support, plans for the 2017 AV Hero Fund Golf Outing are already under way.

Angelo Vayas, Cancer, FEATURED, Hackensack Meridian Health