Local Residents Dine At Beacon Hill For New Providence Girl

Local residents came out in droves for the “Dine for Brooke” fundraiser at Beacon Hill Restaurant & Tavern in Summit on Wednesday. 

Throughout the day, customers could mention Brooke Healey, a 4-year-old New Providence girl battling an inoperable brain tumor, and 15 percent of the bill would go to Brooke and her family.

Laurie Iannarone, who manages Beacon Hill for the owners — her brother, Frank Iannarone, Jr., and nephew, Frank Iannarone, III — said about 90 people came out for the fundraiser from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the dinner rush was far from over. 

The bar was very crowded around 7 p.m., where Councilman Jim Madden was serving up drinks as a celebrity bartender, and Laurie said there were lots of reservations scheduled for later in the evening.

New Providence resident Kathy Folsom, who is friends with Stefani and Steve Healey, Brooke’s parents, organized this fundraiser on their behalf.

“[Community members have] been doing all kinds of different fundraisers and I was here one night and talking to Lucy, one of the bartenders here, and I said, ‘do you think they’d like to do a ‘Dine for Brooke’ event and donate some of the proceeds?’” Folsom told Patch. “And she said ‘yeah’ and she said to talk to Laurie, the manager, and that’s how it evolved. 

Folsom said she might host other fundraisers in the near future for the Healey family. 

“I haven’t organized any others but if this goes well, we might try to do something here again,” Folsom told Patch. “I spoke with the owner of Marco Polo [Restaurant in Summit] and he said he would even be willing to do a ‘Dine for Brooke’ [fundraiser] so it’s just a matter of picking a date and I think I’m going to try to get that going, too.”

Brooke was diagnosed in January with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, very aggressive tumor in the middle of her brain stem. 

Since then, Brooke’s family has been “exploring alternative treatments, which can be very expensive,” according to the “Dine for Brooke” flyer. Brooke’s battle with DIPG has promptednumerous community members to organize fund-raisers to aid her family in their time of need.

"Brooke Healey has demonstrated the meaning of the word ‘COURAGE’ every day within her battle with cancer,” says New Providence Councilman Jim Madden. “She has become a ‘beacon of hope’ and constant source of inspiration within our community."

For anyone who couldn’t make it to the Dine for Brooke fundraiser, there are other fundraisers coming up in the near future. Read all of the details and more about Brooke’s story atwww.brookehealey.com.

You can also help Brooke and her family by visiting njheartworks.org and selecting Brooke’s page to donate to the Healey family. 

Checks can also be made out to “Heartworks with Brooke Healey” and mailed to:

Heartworks Foundation

19 Route 202

Basking Ridge, NJ 07920

Editor's Note: Check back for a photo gallery of the "Dine for Brooke" Fundraiser.