Applying a Foundation of Help

In 2008, three local women who saw the need for an organization to directly assist women with cancer started the Beauty Foundation in Red Bank. Since its development, it has expanded to also provide assistance to men and children.

“Unfortunately cancer is one of things that a large number of people around us have been faced with it and we just felt that there's so much out there for the cure and other (organizations) that are very specific,” one of the Beauty Foundation’s founders, Carla Scarabino, said. “We just thought -- imagine being a women (with cancer.) How do you just get the household to continue to run?”

Scarabino explained that while she thinks the organizations that raise money to find a cure are great, there are people who need help, right now, and that's where the Beauty Foundation comes in.

“What we’re doing is saying: 'What do you help with today?'” she said.

She and other members of the organization later went on to realize that it wasn't just women who needed help, but men and children.

“We help whole families - even those in the family who do not have cancer. When one person is going through something like this, it affects the whole family," Scarabino said.

The Beauty Foundation provides hands on assistance in the form of getting women wings, providing rides to treatment, providing meals and housecleaning and anything else the families need.

“Our goal is support entire family so caregivers and their loved ones can focus on getting better,” said Lori Ceraolo, a Beauty Foundation Board Member

This past holiday, it adopted over 18 families and made complete family wishes come true for each member of the family.

“We made sure everyone got what they wanted,” Ceraolo said.

In 2010, Ceraolo’s daughter, Jackie, 16, and son Kyle, 13, founded the Beauty Foundation’s teen division - Beauty Foundation Friends (BFF) to raise money for and celebrate the lives of children and teens. Having gone through cancer herself, Jackie Ceraolo said she had many organizations helping her when she went through her battle, so she wanted to give back and help other families. BFF also helps other families, aside from ones who are struggling with cancer. According to Kyle Ceraolo, this past Thanksgiving, BFF participated in a basket beggared where they put turkeys and Thanksgiving dinners together for families who couldn't afford them. 


“We wanted them to have good dinners,” he added.

To help raise funds, the Beauty Foundation holds its annual Beauty Ball event, annual Dance Marathon, bake sales and more. Plus, grants that they get go toward families. To date, the Foundation has assisted nearly 200 families with nearly $500,000 in funds. Scarabino said that sometimes families just need help paying their bills, and that's where the grants really come in.

On Jan. 19, the Foundation will hold its annual Beauty Ball Kick-Off Fundraising event at the Diamond Castle and Castle Couture Showrooms in Marlboro. Beginning the night of the kick-off event through the end of March, a percentage of items purchased at Diamond Castle and Castle Couture will go toward the Beauty Foundation, according to Lori Ceraolo.

As the Beauty Foundation continues to grow and directly assist families, Scarabino wishes that people will head to the Foundation’s website to look for ways they can help out.

“We always need people who want to get involved and help with community outreach programs,” she said.

To learn more and get involved, visit the Beauty Foundation's website at www.beautyfoundationnj.com.