It all starts with Momma Midge. Our Meatball Queen.
Our story starts with Momma, for which this benefit is in memory of, Anna Eickmeyer.
Momma was a little woman who grew shorter as the years passed but she was a huge blast to be around. She loved a good party. Her lovely smile, generous nature, loving ways and yes, her cooking were all we needed.
A few years before she passed, she saw an ad for a meatball contest in the Hammonton Gazette, by Chef Lenny’s Kitchen and contemplated in joining into the fray. Eddie & I persuaded her to enter and low and behold she won!… As we knew she would! But Momma didn’t just win that first year, but for three years in a row. One of those contests was at the Italian Market in Philadelphia!
Then the call came where we found out she had Stage 4 breast cancer. She fought, believe me she fought for five years. Unfortunately, Momma’s fight ended peacefully on August 1, 2011.
The first year after she passed away, that following January for her birthday, Eddie and I said, “Let’s invite everybody over and make meatballs in her memory” and that’s what we did. That night was so amazing with our house full of friends and family showing up in Momma’s memory that we decided right then and there to host an event to benefit a local breast cancer organization. With a little research, I found South Jersey Breast Cancer Coalition, located right here in Berlin Borough, NJ.
If you are unaware of this amazing organization, SJBCC assists breast cancer patients, both women & men, going through treatment with essential bills such as their mortgage, electricity, and gas during such a difficult and often chaotic time.
SJBCC’s fearless leader, Loretta Mikulski, is a two-time survivor herself. Loretta and the entire SJBCC group have comforted and helped countless people face their fears and prognoses.
This is why, we try every year, to make this event happen. Not only would Momma want us to have a party in her honor but with her generous and loving nature, she would demand that we do so for SJBCC.
We love and appreciate each and every one of you who participate in this event, be you a partygoer or event donor. You should know that Momma would love that you help celebrate her life while having fun and eating delicious meatballs for SJBCC who work tirelessly to ease the everyday burdens while dealing with the f-d up diagnosis of breast cancer.
