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Marna's Pals Scholar and Vikings Lax Alum Alex Datri

Post date: Jun 2, 2015 4:59:35 PM

Spiking for scholarships, group hosts volleyball tournament

Cheryl Makin, @CherylMakin6:44 p.m. EDT June 1, 2015

Marna's Pals awards scholarships to high school and college students affected by cancer. The nonprofit's annual volleyball tournament fundraiser will be held Sunday at Sondek Park in South Brunswick.

(Photo: Courtesy of Marna’s Pals)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

After losing both parents, David Pal created Marna's Pals, a scholarship nonprofit organization.
Marna's Pals awards scholarships to college and high school students affected by cancer.
The 3rd Marna's Pals Volleyball Tournament will be held Sunday at Sondek Park in South Brunswick

SOUTH BRUNSWICK – To lose a parent as a teenager is devastating. To lose both parents before turning 20 years old is beyond description. For only child David Pal, now 25, that was his world. But instead of losing himself in the loss of his family, Pal has made his life a legacy that would make his parents proud.

Now a Ph.D. student at Princeton University, Pal founded Marna's Pals just a few years after his mother, Marna Pal, died of pancreatic cancer. Pal was 18 at the time of her death. His father, Thomas Pal, had died when he was 15.

Marna's Pals is a nonprofit that offers scholarships to high school and college students who have suffered at the hands of cancer. Initially geared to aid siblings or children of those who had/have cancer, Pal has also recently widened the scope to include children that have suffered with cancer themselves.

For Pal, education is key. He does not believe that cancer should prevent someone from affording a college education. To that end, he created The Marna Pal Memorial Scholarship Fund.

"I was fortunate in the sense that I was a good student and had a good amount of merit aid," he said. "After my mother passed away, I became an independent student and there was additional funds available to me. My college was covered. But many others who are affected by cancer do not have what I had."

On Sunday, June 7, Marna's Pals is hosting the Third Annual Marna's Pal's Volleyball Tournament. The fundraiser at Sondek Park is geared to families and will feature inflatables, face painting, T-shirts, prizes and refreshments as well as volleyball. Pal said about 35 teams are expected to participate.

"It's turning into a family fun day," he said. "There's a lot of opportunity where people can bring their kids and just enjoy the day together."

All proceeds from the day go to the scholarship fund, Pal added.

Moving forward after tragedy

Pal's father died at age 55 from a heart attack after being ill for many years. Then his mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died three years later on Jan. 15, 2008. She was 58 and Pal was an freshman at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, just starting his second semester.

"It was a rough couple years," Pal said. "I remember studying for finals for my first semester of college in her hospital room. That was my first time away from home and my mom is struggling at home. But, she wanted me to be able to be a college student. Fortunately, we had a cousin who had retired and was able to help her at home. She didn't want me to see her like that. And as a naive child, I said 'OK.' I know I was responding to her wishes and that was all I could have done for her at the time."

"We persevere and turn things around," he added. "We move forward."

After his graduation from Rutgers in 2011, Pal enrolled in Princeton as a PhD student in the environmental engineering and water resources program. At the end of that year, Pal knew he wanted to give back to the community that had given him so much.

"I really wanted to help students in similar situations but who may not have been as fortunate as I was to have my tuition covered," he said. "Cancer is expensive. And the priority is healing those who are sick. Often, people can't work. Many people have to use all their savings and that could include a child's college fund. The money will go to treating the cancer. I was fortunate to have been given this excellent education and the opportunity to continue my education. So, I and some friends wanted to give others that opportunity."

While Pal's tuition needs were taken care of, he did look for other scholarship opportunities to cover non-tuition needs, such as food, books and living expenses. It was then, he realized how he could help.

"There weren't many opportunities for students as I would have thought," he said. "It made sense to try to help out and fill this need."

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David Pal, along with his friend and Marna’s Pals co-founder Liz Diaz of Paramus, flank one of the Marna’s Pals Scholars, Alexandria Datri of South Brunswick. (Photo: Courtesy of Marna’s Pals)

Creating a legacy

With a crew of college friends, Pal soon made Marna's Pals a nonprofit organization. They began with small fundraisers, such as dine-to-donate events, T-shirt and bake sales. At the launch party, slightly hampered by a snowstorm, 115 made it to the event. That night, $20,000 was raised.

"We gave away $1,000 at the event to our one scholar applicant," he said. "That was then matched by an anonymous donor. Later that summer, we gave $500 away to a graduating senior at South Brunswick High School. I went to South Brunswick High School, so I thought it would be nice to give back to that community as well. Now every year we give two scholarships to graduating seniors at South Brunswick High School."

A few months later, they had the first Volleyball Tournament. Because they didn't want to be solely a "gala" type of organization, Pal, who played volleyball in high school, thought that an active event such as the tournament would be successful. About 200 participated with 20 teams playing.

The organization continues to alternate the gala with the tournament, said Pal, who is also a STEP (Science, Technology and Environmental Policy) Fellow and a Keller Center Fellow at Princeton.

"It keeps me busy," he said. "And I like busy."

In its second year, Marna's Pals saw 30 applicants for the scholarships and $10,000 was given to 10 scholars with two South Brunswick High School seniors receiving $500 each. This year, 45 applicants and $15,000 in $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to 13 college students and two SBHS seniors.

To be eligible for a scholarship, Pal said the focus is on students between the ages of 17 and 24 who are either state residents or are attending a state school. Additionally, they would have a sibling or parent who has or had cancer. While the original focus was not on student cancer survivors as there tend to be other scholarship opportunities for them, Marna's Pals has opened its scholarship to them as well.

"We want to be able to give away more and more every year," he said. "We went from $10,000 to $15,000 and by the end of the year, we will have given away $30,000 in scholarship since 2012. We are working hard to be sustainable, give away more and more each time and we are looking to grow. We would like to get to a level where we could give $15-, $20-, $25,000 every year."

Recipients of Marna’s Pals scholarships at the last award dinner. This year, the non profit organization awarded 15 scholarships to college and high school students affected by cancer. (Photo: Courtesy of Marna’s Pals)

Honoring his mother and father

While Marna's Pals focuses on honoring his mother, Pal said his "PhD honors his father."

"My dad had a PhD," he said. "He is one of the reasons why I always wanted to get a PhD. I say that I honor my dad during the day when I work on my PhD and I honor my mom at night when I work on Marna's Pals. I give back in honor of my parents. I feel like they did such a good job when they were here and it is so unfortunate that they are not here. I think about them every day."

Pal said he was fortunate to have others step in after his parents' deaths.

"I am an only child by blood, but I have been raised by a village," he said. "I have a number of surrogate parents and siblings that are my family. I also have a couple of uncles and an aunt that all look after me."

He also credits a large circle of volunteers made up of "family" and friends for the success of Marna's Pals, and added that he owes a special "thank you" to the board, Doug and Jess Pritchard and Liz Diaz for their continued effort and support.

"I am not doing this by myself," he said. "I have about 25 invaluable resources who are the reason why we are able to do anything. The fundraisers, the applications, the reviewing — it all requires help from a lot of different people. They are the one who are superstars and make this an organization that is worth being a part of. I have a lot of great friends of my own, those who were my parents' friends and parents of friends of mine. It's a real testament to my parents."

Staff Writer Cheryl Makin: 732-565-7256; cmakin@mycentraljersey.com

Take action

Registration for the Third Annual Marna's Pal's Volleyball Tournamentopens begins at 8 a.m. Sunday, June 7 at Sondek Park in South Brunswick; the games begin at 9 a.m. There are men, women and co-ed divisions. To play, a team (of 6 to 9 people) is $165 and a solo player is $30. T-shirts are sponsored by State Farm agent Rick Duran. The event also features inflatables, face-painting, T-shirts, prizes and refreshments. For more information or to register online, go to www.marnaspals.com/volleyball.

To apply for a scholarship, go to www.marnaspals.com.

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