NJ Neighborhood Revives Reunion to Help 1-Year-Old Fighter

When 1-year-old Samira Eirekat needed her community most, 150 neighbors answered the call by reviving a beloved tradition that hadn't happened in ten years.

The Stoney Road Reunion returned on September 10 at the Woodland Park Boys and Girls Club in New Jersey, selling out completely to support Samira as she battles neuroblastoma. For her grandfather, Woodland Park Councilman Edwin Figueroa, seeing his old neighborhood rally around his granddaughter meant everything.

"My granddaughter was diagnosed with cancer, and she's been going through the whole process with chemo," Figueroa said. "This is an opportunity to get a whole community behind us."

The reunion started 20 years ago when organizer Keegan Avino's mother created it to reconnect people from Paterson's Stoney Road neighborhood while helping families facing hardship. Over the years, the event supported community members dealing with job loss, illness, and other challenges before going quiet about a decade ago.

This year, Avino saw the perfect reason to bring it back. She now organizes alongside her friend Vanessa Eirekat, Samira's mother, passing the tradition to a new generation.

"We found a need, and we found a reunion again, and we matched them together," Avino said. Samira's great-grandmother, who died nearly a year ago, was part of the original Stoney Road community.

The event featured food, raffles, and donated baskets, but the real gift was something bigger than money. Figueroa and his wife have been learning about childhood cancer resources since the diagnosis, discovering organizations that help families navigate treatment and its financial reality.

"It's very expensive," Figueroa admitted. "Me and my wife are very supportive of my daughter and Samira."

Sunny's Take

What makes this story shine isn't just the funds raised. It's watching a community tradition find new life through helping the next generation, and seeing neighbors who haven't gathered in a decade come together like no time has passed. Avino, who once helped her mother run these events as a kid, now leads them as a parent herself, creating a full-circle moment of community care.

The fundraiser happened during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in September, bringing extra meaning to the gathering. Organizers are already open to hosting another reunion if Samira or another neighbor needs support.

For Avino, the sold-out event proved something important about what neighborhoods can be. "It's one neighborhood coming together to benefit one of their own," she said.

As Samira continues chemotherapy, she's surrounded by more than just her immediate family. She has 150 people from a neighborhood with a 20-year history of showing up when it matters most.